Kevin Costner sets the record straight about ‘Yellowstone’, ‘Horizon’ and his future plans

The actor/filmmaker is a blunt speaker, but doesn’t throw arrows with his remarks. He just answers the questions.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answer questions. Their candidness or lack thereof tells a quick story. Are they dancing around the actual truth, giving us only a piece due to contractual obligations, or fearless in the idea of giving a complete answer? Kevin Costner is a blunt guy in interviews. He doesn’t do a lot of them, only when the project seems to need a push. His upcoming four-part western epic, Horizon, needs all the push it can get.

And yes, you read that right. He’s making four movies about the pre and post Civil War, when the Americans made the trip west, expanding and settling their homes across those mad trails dominated and owned by Native Americans. Two parts of the country going against each other for ownership, but Costner isn’t making a rushed two hour movie. He’s making four of them, using the grand scope of cinema to tell a serialized story. Think of it like an eight hour miniseries, but seen on the big screen.

Costner is blending Dances with Wolves, The Postman, Wyatt Earp, and some Waterworld-type brass balls. He used that term when describing the audacity required to make four movies without complete studio assistance. In other words, he’s putting up a good chunk of his land and a moderate portion of his own money to get this thing made. To him, it has to be made and seen, a conquest that Costner will see through. Give him credit. At a certain age, we all decide to drop the “fucks to give” and do what we want. That’s what he’s doing here.

In an expansive and quite entertaining (more due to the rapport between writer and actor) interview with Deadline, Costner discussed that urge, Horizon’s running time and shooting schedule craziness, and all of that Yellowstone drama. The latter issue has been growing like a vine for the past couple of years, which is becoming the amount of time fans of the Paramount television show have waited for a fresh episode.

Just don’t believe everything you’ve heard. Costner hasn’t gone on the record until now, instead channeling his energy into his movie series, which appears to be taking up all of his time and passion at the moment. But this interview acts like more of a clearing of the air AND a promotional piece for Horizon, which releases its first two parts this summer on June 28 and Aug. 16, respectively, and never does it seem Costner is shooting from the hip or taking unnecessary shots. In fact, he came off as more saddened by the lack of appreciation from the network for his contribution.

What contribution? In the beginning, everything. People first came to the Yellowstone ranch for Costner, not Taylor Sheridan. The latter had written a few damn good scripts and directed a terrific drama in Wind River, but most people didn’t know who he was in 2017, the year Yellowstone premiered to huge ratings. Hollywood is littered with great screenwriters who never hit the mega load, but Sheridan did. He built a make believe metropolis at Paramount, creating and releasing several shows.

But he got there with a lot of help from Costner, who carried the weight of the plot, especially in the first two seasons. That’s where a show digs its claws into a viewer, hooking them for life. Costner brought his movie star power and swagger to the show, which in turn produced an audience that ate up the “classic western with a modern day” cover series. Costner was at the forefront of it all, even if his cast mates were talented in their own right.

But let’s be honest: Cole Hauser was more known for being the fourth wheel in Good Will Hunting or the guy who fought Vin Diesel in the dark before he embodied Rip Wheeler. Kelly Reilly was Jude Law’s wife in Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and a fellow alcoholic to Denzel Washington in Flight. They had game, but few knew who they were. Costner brought the boat to the water.

In return, Paramount Network took a shit on him in the press. They whined about him only wanting to work a single week on the latest season of Yellowstone to the press, sullying Costner’s name and making a jab at his reputation. The actor sets the record straight, saying he gave the show an extra week outside of his contract requirements due to the fact that the writers didn’t have any scripts on time. So, he went to work on Horizon while they got the scripts finished. Those days and dates kept getting pushed back, according to Costner. Windows changed and his room to work on his own passion project took the hit. Imagine having a sea of extras on a big strip of land for a movie, and the runner of the entire show is waiting on a television show to finish writing its stories. It’s childish, which is why Costner notes nobody went on the record officially about what happened. All we got were rumors… until now.

Paramount was just another streamer t-shirt of the week before Costner led its golden goose. They should have treated him better, not made cracks in the press about his castmates having to potentially work around his schedule, or how he chose the movie over the show. Wrong. He did both, while the show still hasn’t produced any episodes and keep pushing back their release date for new ones.

I respect Costner for putting his own skin in the game, including a piece of land he owns and a huge chunk of his money. Most of the time, artists dare to dream big, but with someone else’s money. Costner bet on himself, and wasn’t going to wait for a network to tell him when to work.

Horizon indeed looks like a bold Hail Mary toss to the end zone, but an entertaining and potentially moving one at that based off the trailer and the sweat put into it. An old school western about a time in our world’s history that few only know by the name and some fun facts doesn’t seem like a bad idea for a big summer event. Last time I checked, the superhero movie overload crowd and the this-is-too-much-action crowd should be pleased.

When it comes to Kevin Costner, what you see is what you get, especially when asked questions. He’s a straight shooter, just like his Horizon protagonist.

What are his future plans?

Make movies and have fun doing it, while he waits for Sheridan and Paramount to decide a fate for his John Dutton. When I read Costner answering these questions, I heard a lot of Dutton coming out. Blunt, no bullshit, right to the nose. He did nothing wrong, and backs it up with facts and dates. It’s the Paramount ship that has gotten too packed for its own good.

When the man who made your show happen was ready to go, he had no words to speak or story to work with. Yet, his name was dragged through the mud. All it would have taken was a public announcement that the matters would be handled internally, and that was it. Instead, it got ugly and went on long enough for Costner to speak up.

Now that he has, the right party is as clear as a Montana blue sky. Don’t mess with a man who speaks bluntly.