“Horizon ”Actor Michael Rooker Reacts to Movie's Low Ticket Sales: Audiences Have to 'Learn How to Watch Real Cinema'

"Let’s watch a movie that actually tells a story where you learn about the people and grow to like them or hate them," Rooker said

Michael Rooker is championing his new movie Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, despite its disappointing opening weekend at the box office.

In an interview with TMZ, the 69-year-old actor was asked about the low ticket sales and addressed how audiences' attention spans might be affecting the financial success of Horizon, which runs a full three hours.

"It's real cinema, folks. So be prepared," said Rooker. "We ain't used to that s---. We're used to 90-minute movies. Everything's 90 minutes. Come on, give me a break. Get over that s---."

"Let's watch a movie that actually tells a story where you learn about the people and you grow to like them or hate them," he added. "It's not all fast — cut, cut, cut."

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Related: Kevin Costner Calls Studio Support of Horizon: An American Saga 'Pretty Gratifying' (Exclusive)

The Walking Dead alum then said he "totally" agrees with the idea that audiences have become somewhat "TikTok-ified," to put it in the TMZ interviewer's words.

"Of course they are. They gotta get over that crap. They gotta learn what it's like to watch real cinema, please," Rooker said.

"Stop hanging and go see the movie. You'll enjoy it," he added, joking of the movie's 3-hour runtime, "Go to the bathroom before you go in."

An official synopsis says that Horizon, which director/co-writer/star Kevin Costner first began exploring the idea for over 35 years ago, "explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won — and lost — through the blood, sweat and tears of many."

"Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Kevin Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America," the synopsis adds.

Related: Kevin Costner Reflects on 30 Years Since 'Beautiful' Wyatt Earp as He Premieres New Western Horizon (Exclusive)

Costner's sweeping Western epic was made on a budget that included $38 million of the Oscar winner's own fortune. The first installment has raked in $12.26 million in theaters worldwide since its opening this past Friday, June 28, according to Box Office Mojo.

Ahead of Horizon's theatrical debut, Costner, 69, told Entertainment Weekly that he has learned from having "lived with movies and what happens to them on their opening weekend."

"If we put so much pressure on that, we're bound to be disappointed," he continued. "I'm really happy that Horizon looks like what it's supposed to look like, and that's the way it'll look the rest of its life. And that's really important to me in this process."

"Would I love that it would be highly, highly successful? Of course, I'd like that. My ego would like that; everyone would like that," the actor and filmmaker added. "But I am happiest that the movie that you and I are talking about looks the way I want it to look."

Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 is in theaters now, to be followed by Chapter 2 on Aug. 16.

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