Costner's New Epic Western 4-Parter Set to Eat Yellowstone in 2024
Instead of the decline of the Old West, Costner chose to tell the story of the heyday of the American frontier.
Summary
- The final episodes of Yellowstone will be released in November, but it is still unknown what will happen to Kevin Costner's John Dutton.
- In the meantime, the actor is ready to unveil a series of feature-length epic Western films called Horizon: An American Saga.
- Judging by audience reaction to the trailer, Horizon promises to be a major competitor to Yellowstone.
Within the Western genre, the Sheridanverse is by far the most dominant: Whether Westerns are on the rise or on the decline in pop culture, Taylor Sheridan 's Yellowstone projects are among the most popular in both the genre and American television itself, attracting millions of viewers worldwide. Unfortunately, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have delayed the final episodes of Yellowstone, although fans recently received an incredibly encouraging update that Season 5, Part 2 will be released as early as November 2024.
Beyond the release date, however, there's still no word on what the final chapter of the Dutton family's story will entail. What is the fate of Kevin Costner's John Dutton, and will Sheridan make good on his 'f--k you car crashes' by killing the character off-screen as a result of a conflict with the actor, despite claims that he would never do such a thing? And anyway, how much of John will be on screen in the final episodes?
There are too many questions, and the answers will not be forthcoming anytime soon. But one thing we do know is that the entire Sheridanverse has a major competitor in the form of Costner's passion project, which was the subject of the highly publicized dispute between the actor and his representatives and the Yellowstone team led by Sheridan.
Recently, a trailer for the first installment of Costner's feature film series was released, and judging by the enthusiastic reactions of those who saw the clip, the long years of production, millions of dollars, as well as the breakup of relations with Taylor Sheridan were absolutely worth it, as the upcoming epic Western project promises to attract all fans of the Taylor Sheridan shows.
Why Costner Left Yellowstone
Most media sources have reported rumored conflicts involving Kevin Costner and the production team of Yellowstone over creative differences, scheduling difficulties, and, not surprisingly, money.
The main disagreement stemmed from Sheridan's intention to divide Season 5 into two parts. This would have prevented Costner from completing his own passion project, a series of four full-length Western movies titled Horizon: An American Saga. At that point, the situation was exacerbated by rampant WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that disrupted filming both Yellowstone and Horizon.
Horizon Promises to Break Yellowstone Records
But despite all this, Costner, who has been developing Horizon for 35 years, still managed to produce the first two chapters of a planned four. What's more, he not only took on the lead role, but also served as writer, producer and director from the beginning, and given his experience in the Western genre, it looks like we're in for a truly legendary story, according to the trailer released by Warner Bros.
It's also worth noting that, unlike other projects he's produced, Costner has put his own $100 million into Horizon, mortgaging his own 10-acre home in California. Despite taking such huge risks, as none of the movies may pay off, the actor truly believes in the importance of the story, and judging by the enthusiastic response from viewers who watched the video, he really has something to look forward to.
The plot of Horizon will tell an epic story of colossal proportions about the progress and development of the American West in the 15 years leading up to the Civil War and beyond. The theatrical release of the first movie is already scheduled for June 28, 2024, while Chapter 2 will be released on August 16, 2024.