I have to talk about Kevin.
Kevin Costner's character was introduced in the revival of Paramount's hit Yellowstone earlier this month. He fell to the floor and died.reportedly from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Fans of the show, angry that Costner bailed out late in the final season, said executive producer and executive producer Taylor Sheridan killed Costner's ruggedly handsome and stoic Montana patriarch John Dutton. I felt that he was trolling a former friend by portraying him as having aspirations. .
This was a harsh process that required him to finalize his divorce from his second wife Christine Baumgartner, quit the popular TV show he had helped produce, and obtain $100 million for the four-part series with his own funds. For Costner, 69 years old, who has experienced 2024, this role has recently become a source of comfort. His passion project, Horizon, was a huge failure both critically and commercially.
Many would see him as in danger. But people close to Mr. Costner know that he has been in similar situations before, and that, according to Baumgartner's divorce filing, he is worth about $400 million. and it remains unfazed by the apparent downturn in critical assets.
“Kevin is amazing,” a longtime friend of Costner's who went out to dinner with him last week told the Post.
“I've known him for years. I just met him and he seemed to be in great spirits. He never talked about how his projects were going. They make huge profits through their investment decisions.
“He doesn't sit around and worry about how his shows and movies do at the box office. All he cares about is that the product is good quality.”
Costner has been back on the gossip pages since their split in 2023, first reporting his relationship with country singer Jewell, 50, this summer, but then claiming they were just friends. “Cheating” with Sharon Stone At the Governor's Awards Ceremony held in Los Angeles last week.
For the son of a ditch digger turned wire serviceman for Southern California Edison, things are certainly going well.
Costner's big break in the film industry was hampered when a famous scene was cut from 1983's The Big Chill, which could have made him a star. He finally got his big break in 1988 with “Bull Durham,'' a story about a minor league baseball player. The athlete told his co-star and girlfriend Susan Sarandon that he believes a “long, slow, deep, soft, wet kiss can last three days.”
Those with long memories in Hollywood compare Costner's current situation to the mid-'90s.
He shot to fame with 1990's long-anticipated Western triumph Dances with Wolves, which won a total of seven Oscars and revitalized the largely dormant Western genre. Ta.
The film tells the story of Union Army Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, played by Costner, who travels to the frontier in search of a military post and finds a group of Lakota tribesmen. Much of the dialogue is spoken in Lakota, with English subtitles.
He continued to dazzle audiences with The Bodyguard and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but in 1995 he delivered the epic-scale bomb Waterworld. The film was the most expensive film ever made at the time, costing $175 million to make. And that would be Hollywood's punchline for the rest of the decade.
It was also a difficult time for Costner personally, as he divorced his wife and mother of his first three children, Cindy Silva, in 1994.
Costner spent the next ten years producing a series of forgettable films, and in 1996 he had another son from a short-lived relationship with Bridget Rooney. Costner met Baumgartner in 2004 and they went on to have three children, all of whom are now teenagers.
Costner had memorable lead roles in JFK, Field of Dreams, and The Untouchables, but he always returned to Westerns, appearing in films such as Silverado, Wyatt Earp, and The Untouchables. He has appeared in films such as “Open Range'' and “Open Range''. In addition to “Let Him Go,” other TV shows include “The Hatfields and the McCoys” and “Yellowstone.”
“I'm troubled by how people interact when there's no law. How do you act when something is wide open? Costner told GQ this year. “And this is a very interesting way to measure yourself in the dark. Who do you think I am in this? Now many people say, “Of course I am the hero.” Sho. And you want to say, “Really?” Are you sure about that? ”
Unlike most Hollywood stars, Costner also has real cowboy credentials, purchasing a 160-acre Aspen estate in 2000 that is now worth about $80 million. Earlier this year, the property, which includes a private baseball field and room for 27 people, was put on the market for $36,000 a night.
Named Dunbar Ranch after his “Dances with Wolves” character, the property bears a clear resemblance to the one where Costner's beloved “Yellowstone” character John Dutton lived. , which first debuted in 2018 and introduced Costner to a whole new generation of fans.
His falling out with Sheridan and his refusal to appear in the final episode of Yellowstone were shocking. And somehow, even though viewers love John Dutton, the response to “Horizon” has been lukewarm at best, and they haven't been able to follow him to the big screen.
“Now that Clint Eastwood is in decline, Kevin Costner is the last remaining Western filmmaker. The last big-name movie star still interested in making traditional Westerns on a large scale.” ” ken tuckerthe longtime NPR pop music critic and former film critic for New York Magazine told the Post.
“His problem is that the western audience is aging as much as he is, and with the aging baby boomer generation, he's not getting the box office success he needs.
“Taylor Sheridan absolutely falls in love with the stoic tough guy with emotional maturity that Costner portrays so well, so he fits perfectly into the world of Yellowstone.”
The Horizon saga, which he first began developing in 1988, is an overarching saga divided into four separate films that spans 15 years of the American West before and after the Civil War. Sienna Miller, Abbey Lee, Sam Worthington and Jena Malone round out the star-studded cast. Costner stars in the project, as well as directing, producing and co-writing the screenplay.
Costner told GQ that he mortgaged his $60 million luxury home in Santa Barbara and poured $38 million of his own money into “Horizon.” (Fortunately, it's the smaller of Costner's two mansions in the area, located at the back of the $145 million estate that has been his home since the '80s.)
Costner admitted at one point that he was obsessed with “Horizon,” comparing his tenacity in working on the mega-project to Captain Ahab, the literary character who self-destructively chases a great white whale in “Moby Dick.” Ta.
“The beluga got so attached to him that he took everyone with him,” he told GQ, but added, “I don't take anyone with me. I take the risk myself.”
Having experienced failure before Costner, he is remorseful but unafraid, adding, “I've taken a lot out of life, and life has taken a lot out of me, right?” .
The first two “Horizon” movies, called “Chapters,” were released in June and August, respectively, but due to poor box office results, it's unclear when the final two will be released. .
Costner said. hollywood reporter He had filmed a few days of “Chapter 3” in May and probably had enough money to shoot for another week.
“It's going to happen anyway, but the money hasn't been raised yet,” Costner confirmed to GQ.
Mr. Costner's attorney, Arnold Robinson, did not respond to The Post's detailed questions about Mr. Costner's career or the fate of the final two chapters of “Horizon.”
Veteran entertainment journalist and television producer brian balthazar Costner said he is much smarter than people give him credit for, given his years of experience in Hollywood.
“Mr. Costner has had a considerable number of commercial successes during his long career, which has enabled him to make more professional decisions than ever before with less concern for net financial gain. It gave me an opportunity to think about it as an artistic endeavor,” Baltazar told The News. post.
“Whether fans like it or not, he is committed to creating art that resonates on a deeper level, often prioritizing storytelling and authenticity over commercial considerations.” ”
At times, it sounds as if he's betting on himself – as he does again in “Horizon” – which is both scary and exhilarating.
“No matter how much water I get in my face, I can't let go of the rope,” he told GQ.
But, he admitted, “I'm in a tight spot right now like never before.”
