Bitter Kevin Costner Convinced 'Yellowstone Will Sink Without Him': He Thinks Show Bosses Are 'Running Round Like Headless Chickens'
Aug. 20 2024, Published 4:24 p.m. ET
Hollywood star Kevin Costner may have galloped away from Yellowstone, but RadarOnline.com spoke with sources who claim the actor has been obsessively eyeing the hit show's multiple TV spinoffs.
Sources close to Costner, 69, say the Golden Globe-winner predicts the projects are doomed to fail.
The original series, which ran for five seasons and saw Costner as patriarch John Dutton, came to an abrupt end when insiders revealed the Bodyguard frequently came to blows with the show's creator, Taylor Sheridan, 54, over scheduling conflicts.
Costner ultimately left the show to film the first installment of Horizon: An American Saga, his widely panned Western epic that was a flop in the box office.
The actor said of his Yellowstone exit: "I owe the fans the best movie I can make. If I give up movies and don’t want to make anymore, that’s my business. But if I choose to make movies, I have the fans right on my shoulder. And not to cater to them, but to kind of take them in a direction maybe they didn’t even think something could possibly go so.
"I make [movies] for people. It’s not my movie anymore, it’s the fans’ that have supported me. It’s for them ... Well, I’m not saying they are [going to like it], but I’m saying I think if I like it, I think they will like it."
Sources revealed Costner had yet to lasso a win with his film and was fuming his self-dubbed "passion project" was the recipient of lackluster reviews.
An insider revealed: "Kevin's well aware the likes of Taylor Sheridan and other turncoats are probably chuckling over Horizon's bad viewing numbers, and it's only strengthened his bitterness and dislike toward them.
"It would give him a lot of quiet satisfaction seeing those guys fall flat on their faces for even attempting to breathe fresh life into the show he sees very much as HIS baby — not theirs."
Another source said Sheridan was looking to expand theYellowstone empire with a new spinoff series called The Madison, which will reportedly star Hollywood icons like Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell and Patrick J. Adams. The show will join existing prequels 1883, 1923 and 1944.
An insider shared: "At the end of the day, Kevin thinks the Yellowstone bosses are running around like delusional headless chickens.
"His bottom line, however egotistical it may sound, is that without his genius - even on a consulting level — it's not going to work."
As RadarOnline.com reported, the disgruntled TV cowboy opened up about his departure in June after announcing he would not be returning to the Paramount Plus show a month earlier.
Costner explained: "It wasn’t tough. It was a necessary decision to say, ‘Hey, OK, I don’t want to really talk about this anymore. It’s time to move on. I gave this thing five seasons."
He added: "I was really happy to do it. And I don’t need drama. So, let’s just take that drama away, let’s take the guessing [away]. The fans have been way too good to me. And my obligation is to go on and continue to make things that mean something to them."
The actor, who had been with the show since 2018, reportedly had asked the studio for "script approval" and the final say over how his character would leave the show — but was denied.
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