Kevin Costner has spent the past couple of years hating on his former Yellowstone boss Taylor Sheridan, but a source who has been close to the filmmaker-star for years exclusively tells Life & Style he’s mellowed now and that time’s been a big healer as he looks to start out 2025 without grudges or hostility.
“Kevin is being intentional about getting a fresh start in 2025 and he’s not going to keep warring with the Yellowstone franchise now that he’s officially exited the show,” the insider says. “He’s putting all that behind him and focused on rescuing his in-progress Horizon: An American Saga film series and clawing back more of the massive investment he and his partners have put into it.”
The movie saga, which has released two of its planned four parts so far, put the actor’s schedule in conflict with Yellowstone series filming – the source of the dispute between him and series creator Taylor, 54, – though it’s unclear who’s exactly to blame. Kevin, 69, claimed he had organized his own passion project’s filming schedule before Yellowstone showrunners split season five of the show into two parts, which then boxed the Waterworld star out if he wanted to keep on with his production. But the brains behind the neo-Western series said Kevin was being unrealistically demanding with his schedule, giving them just a two-week timespan to film the second half of season five.
Ultimately, Kevin decided to leave the show to pursue Horizon, though the first half of the project has not lived up to expectations. The first film lost so much money, a second source previously told Life & Style, “Kevin banked Horizon largely, but not entirely, on undeveloped California land he owns, and reality is starting to set in that he’s likely going to have to part with this real estate and also reshuffle his other holdings to remain solvent after the disappointing showing of the first film in this saga.”
The theatrical release of Chapter 2 was cancelled after the dismal performance of Chapter 1, which made only $11 million before going to home video.
Even though walking off a hit show to make disappointing Westerns may not seem like the best move, Kevin is 100 percent committed to releasing the rest of the saga.
“The saving grace in all of this has been his family and his older kids have stepped up to be a real support system for him,” the first source says of the financial, artistic and personal difficulties the actor is now facing.
“I don’t think he would still be pushing so hard on Horizon if his kids didn’t totally support his long term plans for the films.,” the insider adds, even though, “He is partially gambling with their inheritance and they have taken that in stride.”
“The final piece of the puzzle for Kevin is sorting out his personal life and finding somebody he can spend the rest of his days with, and once he’s wrapped Horizon, he’s going to take that goal seriously, too.”
“But right now he’s just breathing a sign of relief that the Yellowstone drama is truly behind him and he’s once again the master of his own destiny.”