Can a $100 million bet by Kevin Costner revive southern Utah’s movie legacy?

St. George • When Kevin Costner was mulling over where to film his “Horizon” franchise, he heard the southern Utah landscapes he glimpsed as a boy in theaters and gandered at during his travels as an adult calling to him.

In the foreword he penned for Utah film historian James D’Arc’s book, “When Hollywood Came to Utah,” the actor and director rhapsodized about the state and its longtime hold on him.

“A steady wind has been pushing me my whole life to this point. To Utah. To Horizon” Costner wrote. “Where could I film this story that has been speaking so loudly to me for over 35 years that would do it justice? I simply thank God that scales came off my eyes and in front of me stood Utah.”

Costner, like many other filmmakers before him, took a shine to Washington County, where much of the still unreleased second installment was filmed. D’Arc, who compiled 33 years of research into his book, said it’s easy to see what drew Costner and other filmmakers to the St. George area over the decades.

“The scenery has always been there,” said D’Arc. But the author says the area’s rapid growth and accompanying upgrades to infrastructure and eateries put it on the cusp of filmmaking resurgence — one that officials hope will echo the days of Robert Redford, as a major movie studio rises up from the red dirt of St. George.

“Washington County checks so many boxes,” said Joyce Kelly, film manager for the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office.

The region’s rich film history dates back to the 1920s. At the time, movie trade papers complained about the lack of variety in movie landscapes, bemoaning the fact that virtually all the Westerns were being filmed at Lone Pine, California, or in the hills of the San Fernando Valley.