Kevin Costner Has Allegedly Left Hollywood To Become A Deep Sea Treasure Hunter After A Scathing Article Labeled Him As A Stubborn Prick Who's Impossible To Work With Whether It's 'Waterworld' Or 'Yellowstone'
It's been a tough few weeks for America's former sweetheart, Kevin Costner. Just a few years ago he was on top of the world starring as John Dutton on 'Yellowstone', raking in loads of cash per episode and raising those ratings to become the #1 most watched show on cable during its entire run. But oh how the mighty have fallen since then. Not only was he killed off unceremoniously after an ugly contract dispute, but now the hits keep on coming in the form of a brutally scathing article from The Hollywood Reporter.
Now there's been plenty of reports about Costner's onset behavior in the past, hell Jeanne Tripplehorn said she nearly quit acting altogether after her experience working with him on the ocean for months during 'Waterworld'. But these recent words are hitting different. Were they deserved? Is he getting railroaded? I'm not sure the answer, but what is known is he's allegedly so pissed about this article that he's left Hollywood altogether and decided to become a deep sea treasure hunter instead. Man, having money must be so fucking sick. Before we dive into that dementia, here's some choice nugs from THR...
There’s a long list of people in Hollywood who swear they’ll never work with Costner again. And they all have their reasons. He doesn’t always pay his bills on time — one since-settled lawsuit alleged hundreds of thousands in unpaid costume fees. He burns through relationships — like his longtime producing partner, whom he sued for $15 million. He ignores advice, even from folks like Steven Spielberg. He rewrites scripts without warning, overrules directors and on more than one occasion has clashed with his co-stars — including Clint Eastwood, Kurt Russell … and Wes Bentley.
The first season of Yellowstone went smoothly enough. Other than Costner, the show was largely populated with relatively unknown actors — Costner was clearly the big fish in this smallish pond. But the extraordinary success of the first two seasons shifted the power dynamics on the set in Sheridan’s favor. The cast, most of whom owed their newly buzzing careers to the showrunner, were extremely loyal to Sheridan and 101 Studios, while Paramount executives were desperate to have Sheridan’s content for Paramount+, their new streaming app. As the seasons wore on, Costner became an increasingly polarizing figure, and certain castmembers were growing fed up with what several sources described as Costner’s “diva-like” imperiousness.
It began, as so many arguments do, at a kitchen table. They were filming on a soundstage in Utah — Kevin Costner, Wes Bentley and Kelly Reilly — playing out another tense exchange in the Dutton family drama Yellowstone. But between takes, tensions boiled over. Costner, both star and executive producer, was pushing Bentley to ditch Taylor Sheridan’s script and play the moment his way. Bentley refused. He told Costner that he had signed up for a Taylor Sheridan show, not a Kevin Costner production. “Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him,” says a source who was present. “No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.” Reilly, according to one witness, was in tears. Production briefly shut down.
“The incident with Wes was the line in the sand. Everything was different after that,” says another source who was also present for the fight with Bentley. “Everyone loved Wes and so that really made Taylor upset. Kevin and Taylor butted heads from there on out. It got very awkward.” (A spokesperson for Bentley confirmed the altercation, calling it a “work related argument during an emotional and physically tough scene,” which was “discussed and resolved.” Costner’s spokesperson declined to comment on the near fisticuffs.) At his peak, Costner was being paid around $1.5 million an episode, with a potential seasonal payday of over $10 million. Yellowstone was originally envisioned to run for six seasons, but a source on the show says, based on its success, it could have potentially stretched to eight seasons, meaning Costner might have pocketed something like $45 million if he’d continued playing John Dutton III.
First things first, I NEED to see that fight footage. There's just something so mystical & magical about seeing actors absolutely lose their shit when the cameras aren't supposed to be rolling. Or in some cases, hearing them lose their shit. You thought I wouldn't jump at the opportunity to include Christian & Tom in here?
Ah da da da daaa GOOD FOR YOUUUUUUU!
If that blast from the past doesn't bring a twinkle to your eye, we're fucking done professionally mate. You're a good guy, you're a good guy, but just fucking THINK for a fucking second. Blimey.
Anyway, that THR article delves more into Costner's past incidents and creates a pretty convincing character profile of a guy who's supremely cocky, somewhat successful, but certainly stubborn as hell. It is easy to forget just how influential 'Dances With Wolves' was for him though, grossing $420 million off a $22 million budget along with winning 7 Academy Awards. As Les Grossman would say, that's big dick stuff baby. G5.
Costner quickly capitalized on the moment, following up with a remarkable string of hits, starting with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which came out six months after Wolves and grossed $390 million, making it the third-highest-grossing film of that year. That was followed up by Oliver Stone’s historical drama JFK, which grossed $205 million on a $40 million budget. Then came The Bodyguard, which co-starred Whitney Houston, and which grossed $411 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1992. Suddenly, Costner was considered — alongside Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis — one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
Then came Waterworld. In hindsight, it’s easy to see that the 1995 postapocalyptic action film in which Costner plays a mutated mariner living on the fringes of a water-soaked world was a debacle waiting to happen. In fact, at the time, Costner was being warned by no less an oracle than Steven Spielberg. The guy who shot Jaws had reportedly advised Costner and director Kevin Reynolds to avoid filming on the open sea at all costs. But the warning went ignored and Waterworld — with a budget of $175 million, then the most expensive movie ever made — began shooting around the Big Island of Hawaii in 1994. The production was plagued by hurricanes, tsunami warnings, stinging jellyfish and several injuries — including Costner, who almost died while riding out a storm stranded atop a mast after his safety line had snapped. Things got even worse when the film finally opened on July 28, 1995; it became one of the biggest flops since … well, Heaven’s Gate.
Still, what Costner couldn’t shake was a reputation for being difficult. He reportedly clashed with Clint Eastwood over creative differences on the set of the 1993 crime thriller A Perfect World, which Eastwood directed. He also reportedly clashed with Kurt Russell on the set of 3000 Miles to Graceland — yet again over creative differences. “The word difficult gets used a lot,” says Rick Nicita, who represented Costner from 2002 to 2008 before Nicita retired from agenting as a partner at CAA (in the 1990s Costner was represented by Mike Ovitz). “It can mean someone who won’t come out of their trailer, or someone who doesn’t know their lines, or is rude. That’s not Kevin. He wanted what he wanted and knew what he wanted and if he didn’t get it … well, he was never a great compromiser. It’s a firm belief in himself and a confidence that to some can play as arrogance.”
There's a fine line between being a man of virtue & a stubborn prick, but I do gotta tip my cap to Costner for always sticking to his guns. There's value in that. Maybe just not always monetary value. And he ran head on into that problem trying to finance his 4 part western movie 'Horizon' which may end up being his biggest flop of all. Unless he can get some of that sweet sweet Saudi cash!
In the spring of 2024, shortly after production wrapped, Costner took the first Horizon movie to the Cannes Film Festival. There were, sources say, concerns the movie wasn’t ready for exhibition and needed more time for testing. But Costner, true to form, took the film — and some of its cast — to France anyway, screening it out of competition, where it failed to wow many critics (at the time, Rotten Tomatoes gave it only a 27 percent rating based on the early reviews). It did, however, receive a 10-minute standing ovation, which reportedly brought Costner to tears.
A month later, on June 28, 2024, Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 was released in theaters and pulled in just $11 million during its opening domestic weekend, a box office disaster nearly as horrific as Waterworld and Heaven’s Gate. It ultimately grossed just $38.7 million on a $100 million budget — although, as Costner’s spokesperson points out, it was HBO’s top film on the platform when it streamed in August 2024. The second installment, Horizon 2, was supposed to be released just a few months after the first, but WB pulled it after the first film’s disappointing results. There’s currently no release date.
“I need some more money — I do. I need some of these big billionaires, with fucking boats ‘from here to here’ who are fond of telling people they’re billionaires, to come with me and make a movie,” Costner told THR one year ago in Cannes. “I don’t have the money they have, and I’ve already made two of ’em. Where are you rich guys?”
Last year, Costner made a trek to Riyadh looking for those rich guys — and to accept a lifetime achievement award at Saudi Arabia’s Joy Awards. “Saudi Arabia deserves its place on the world stage, and I urge you to tell your own stories,” he said during his acceptance speech. “Invest in the emotional, and the universal and the historical that you know them to be — you will never regret it.” While in Riyadh Costner met with top Saudi officials and pitched them to help finance the third and fourth installments of Horizon. According to two sources, the Saudis were open to investing a certain amount in the franchise, but not the sum that Costner was seeking. He ultimately walked away with nothing. Costner’s spokesman confirmed but downplayed those talks saying that he had “cursory” discussions with Saudi officials about financing Horizon.
Since then, he’s been dealing with the fallout from the Horizon disaster, like that mortgage on that vacant $60 million Carpinteria property he took out to secure financing. In March, a discovery hearing is scheduled for arbitration pitting Costner’s company against Horizon’s bondholder, City National Bank, and its distributor, New Line Cinema, both of which have financial disputes over the film (as COO of Costner’s production company, Kaplan will almost certainly play a central role in that hearing).
A crisp Saudi shit to the chest is a small price to pay for making the movie of your dreams, maybe. But right now it's very unknown whether 'Horizon 2' will ever make it to theaters, let alone filming the 3rd & 4th movies.
And a bigger hold up than the financing might be that Kevin Costner allegedly just left Hollywood entirely so he can focus on his passion for treasure hunting in the ocean depths. Of course! God DAMN it must be awesome to have so so much money & no nagging wife to hold you back from tasting your dreams. Hell yea brother!
(Source) - We all have our ways of coping when times get tough. There are those who lean into self-care, taking baths, journaling, or doing yoga. Some people find solace opening up to friends, while others crack open a bottle of wine. And then there’s Kevin Costner, who apparently goes deep-sea treasure hunting. According to “Page Six,” Costner has been “furious” about a Hollywood Reporter story published last week, which claimed that he’s “impossible” to work with and has been involved in “feuds, walkouts, lawsuits, [and] financing fiascos.”
Probably not a fun thing to read about yourself. So, what’s Costner doing to get through it? He’s taking to the seas. Per “Page Six,” Costner is currently channeling his rage into “a deep-sea diving binge to discover sunken treasure.” And apparently, it’s going pretty well — the source said the actor has “found gold coins and emeralds recently in the Caribbean.” Shiver me timbers! So, what’s next for Ol’ Captain Costner? Apparently, he’s trying to turn his new hobby into a show — the source said he’s “shopping a TV series on finding sunken treasure around the world,” though “no one has signed on to finance it” as of yet. Maybe he could fund it with doubloons?
I'll say this, no matter how you feel about Kevin Costner's alleged behavior or his taste in movies, this is an absolutely ALPHA move from him. Who wouldn't want to spend their days channeling rage into sorting through shark teeth and deformed glass bottles? Plus he can update his iconic catchphrase… Gold coins in the Caribbean are not a myth, I'VE SEEN IT!
I'm just glad I got a new midlife crisis to focus on instead of the flaming decal Pontiac Trans Am I had been saving up for. If deep sea treasure diving is good enough for a Hollywood legend like Billy Chapel, there must be something to it. Although I'm pretty sure James Cameron must be pretty pissed about his favorite niche hobby getting whored out like this. But hopefully ol' Kev doesn't get a hankering for crafting his own submarine next, that could get ugly. Fingers crossed he isn't actually retired from making movies though, we're all still waiting for 'Draft Day 2' after all. Make it happen you pancake eating motherfuckers.
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PS: gotta give a special shout out to my favorite character in 'Waterworld' and possibly ever, AKA Depth Gauge Guy. Some decrepit old soul that's been living inside the unlit bowels of the Exxon Valdez for years solely to measure how much oil is left for the main villain… But when Costner drops a lit flare down there, hilarity ensues. And you get one of the most heartfelt line reads of all-time. If only we could all be so lucky, OH THANK GOD.