Kevin Costner made Horizon because Yellowstone couldn't get its shit together

In a full-throated interview with Deadline, Costner explains what’s been going on out west

By Matt Schimkowitz | May 13, 2024 | 10:57pm

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Kevin Costner made Horizon because Yellowstone couldn't get its shit together

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Kelly Reilly and Kevin Costner
Photo: Paramount Network

Kevin Costner is tired of “taking a beating from those fucking guys.” The guys in question? His Yellowstone collaborators, whom he accuses of dragging him through the press over his directing Horizon, Costner’s massive, multi-part Western. Speaking to Deadline, Costner finally tells his side of things, namely that he couldn’t wait for Yellowstone to get its shit together and deliver some scripts.

Costner hasn’t “felt good” about his name being dragged in public over Yellowstone. “It wasn’t truthful,” he tells Deadline. Costner “made a contract for seasons five, six, and seven” of Yellowstone. Instead of producing those three seasons of ranch-based soap operas, producers decided to go another way: Splitting season five into two parts and “maybe” doing a sixth. This was in 2022 when Paramount Networked renewed the popular cowboy drama for another season. The first half of season five premiered later that year. Then nothing. All’s been quiet on the Western front since, aside from the petty squabbling in the press. Costner hasn’t said much in that time. He’s been focused on his high-profile divorce from Christine Baumgartner and the upcoming Horizon saga. The divorce was made official roughly in February this year, but Costner’s been making Horizon, a multi-part epic of four, three-hour films.

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Costner contends that Yellowstone’s production was never ready or couldn’t complete the work on time. “There were blocks of time that we didn’t get 10 episodes done. Basically, we were starting in April and May, and we’d usually go through August. We’d do 10. We didn’t even get 10 done during that time. I only worked 43 days. So that’s bullshit.”

Costner says that “things imploded” because there was no script for the second half of season five. “I left my movie to be on time for them for 5B. I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10. They didn’t have the scripts for anything else.”

After the show shut down because they “didn’t have the scripts,” Team Yellowstone started pumping out Yellowstone spin-offs. “They don’t ever talk about that. And all they did was remember we were releasing the series in June, then it moved to October. They covered by changing their release pattern. That time was about a 14-month period.”

In the years since Yellowstone’s premiere, co-creator Sheridan launched 1883, Tulsa King, 1923, Special Ops: Lioness, and directed the Angelina Jolie movie Those Who Wish Me Dead. We know that Sheridan isn’t into writers rooms, infamously firing the writing staff from Tulsa King and Lioness, but it doesn’t sound like things have gotten much better considering the two-year break between halves of season five. Sheridan said last year, “No production of mine has ever waited on me,” saying he “begged” for more time on and 1923.

Nevertheless, Costner is “very open to coming back.” Reiterating that he “took a beating over these guys not speaking up for me and allowing crazy stories to come out,” Costner hopes they can come back with “a really cool two seasons.” He’s also fine if they circle back to him. Sheridan says, “I sure hope [the movie is] worth it—and that it’s a good one.”

Costner wants to clarify that Horizon has nothing to do with the Yellowstone drama. He had that script ready for years, and the downtime from Yellowstone, coupled with Sheridan’s interest in exploring the Dutton dynasty in all its spin-offs, gave him a window to make a massive 12-hour western.

“I didn’t do Horizon because I was tired of doing Yellowstone. That’s a bullsh*t story. I didn’t do Horizon to compete with Yellowstone. This is something I’ve had a long time,” Coster said. “It’s just that simple: Paramount and 101 Studios mismanaged this. They had me for five, six, and seven. I agreed to do it. And then they steadily began changing their format.”

While we’re sure the truth exists somewhere between Costner and Sheridan’s versions of events, one thing is objectively true: Splitting seasons of television sucks. Audiences hate it, Kevin Costner hates it, and it denies cast and crew the ability to re-negotiate their contracts between seasons. It is more or less a BOGO for studios, who pay per season and, therefore, get two seasons worth of TV for the price of one. There’s no business like show business.