Kevin Costner finally, albeit reluctantly, sheds light on his exit from “Yellowstone.”
Costner, who played Montana rancher John Dutton III in the first four and a half seasons of the Emmy-nominated drama, officially announced last week the Instagram that he would not return for season 5, part 2 of the series, more than a year later The first reports of his departure were.
Now, as the Golden Globe-winning actor and director promotes “Horizon” — his newly released Western epic that’s been more than 30 years in the making — he’s being pressed on the details of his widely mourned exit from “Yellowstone.” That includes whether clashes with series creator and director Taylor Sheridan caused it.
“People say this about you two: You both have big egos, you both are very powerful, you both are at the top of your game, and right now, maybe you two are playing a game of ‘Who’s bigger?'” “CBS Mornings” host Gayle King told Costner in Thursday. “Do you see it that way?”
Costner responded by saying that he “loved the show before anyone else” and that, in the beginning, “it was Taylor and me.”
But King pressed further and asked if the collaborators were on good terms. “Why can't you two figure it out?” she asked.
“Well, this isn't therapy, Gayle. “We’re not going to talk about this on the show,” Costner responded. “I have led my life in a fairly simple way. “I have never missed any obligation in my entire career.”
As for the real reason for his departure, Costner suggested that the show's scripts had stopped moving him. It was a stance he had taken in his recent People Cover story: “The scripts weren't there.”
Earlier in the “CBS Mornings” interview, Costner also disputed claims made last year by Sheridan that “Horizon” became the actor's “priority” and that he wanted to “change focus.”
“I hope that [the movie is] “It's worth it and it's a good decision,” Sheridan said. hollywood reporter.
“‘Horizon’ didn’t cause me any problems,” Costner told King. “I wanted to work more than once a year and it was important to leave room for ‘Yellowstone’ and ‘Horizon,’ but it was just… people were on deadline, they were busy, they had a lot to do. But ‘Horizon’ was secondary to ‘Yellowstone. ’”
“But there was still a line-up to do,” he continued. “I had 400 people waiting for me, so I got things done in a very limited time.”
Costner added that while his Academy Award-winning directorial debut, “Dances With Wolves,” took 106 days, “Horizon” was filmed in just 52.
“Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1,” the first installment in a proposed four-part film series, opened in theaters Friday. Costner has been pushing the project since 1988.
“I thought it was good, but nobody would make it,” he said on “CBS Mornings.” “I thought, well, I'll write four more, see if they like them.”
Costner said no one liked them either, “but I did, and I couldn't get over them.” [‘Horizon’]. I loved that.”
During a Thursday panel discussion for Josh Horowitz “Hesad confused appy“ podcastCostner said, “I felt like I had a secret for you guys in this movie,” adding that his faith in the project has grown with that of the cast. “I gave the script to these actors and, one by one, as they read it, they said they wanted to be a part of it.
“I knew we had something,” he said.
“Horizon” brought only $800,000 from more than 3,000 locations on Thursday, according to studio estimates, a soft start to its projected opening weekend box office take of $10 million to $12 million in the U.S. and Canada. Filmmakers and studios remain hopeful that Costner's fan base will live up to their expectations over the weekend.
“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2” hits theaters on August 16.
Meanwhile, the final six episodes of “Yellowstone” are already in production and scheduled to air on November 10. The first half of the fifth season of “Yellowstone” aired between November 2022 and January 2023.
