The last few years have not been kind to Kevin Costner. After months of controversy surrounding his Yellowstone exit, the official studio statement clashed against his reputation, turning the entire fanbase against the actor. His attempt at redressal failed badly, especially considering his initial silence on the issue, which most took as a sign of a guilty conscience.
Although Kevin Costner has moved on from the Taylor Sheridan series, controversy has followed him to the end of the line. His passion project Horizon: An American Saga, which has been 40 years in the making, fell short of audience expectations. The 7-minute-long Cannes standing ovation turned into a sneering jab in the face of the actor after Horizon sank in ratings.
A Fraught Relationship Becomes the Recipe for Disaster
For Hollywood’s A-listers, a flop or two in their careers is not a thing of rarity, even for actors like Clint Eastwood and Tom Cruise. During a certain phase in the 80s and 90s, Kevin Costner was certifiably the biggest name in the industry — an actor whose name alone was sure to pull enough crowds in theaters across the world.
It was this name-based fame that shot the script of Waterworld quickly down the studio pipeline after Costner showed interest in the film. The initial champion of the project, Peter Rader who was inspired by Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner into making an oceanic apocalyptic thriller, was replaced by Kevin Reynolds.
Considering the director’s past collaboration with Kevin Costner on 4 other projects, including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, their partnership was (on paper) a perfect recipe for success. However, their behind-the-scenes tension which seemingly began from the Robin Hood days quickly snowballed on the sets of Waterworld.
Kevin Costner’s Past Becomes Indicative of His Present
Waterworld, which was the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its filming, was already fraught with peril. The unpredictable weather on the open water, high wind speed, seasickness, accidents, and hurricanes made the production one of the most difficult ones to date.
Despite the fraught conditions, it was Kevin Costner himself who became the last straw for the director, making him quit 3 months before the film’s completion. However, the incident was somewhat indicative of the past, particularly one incident during the post-production of Robin Hood. Film website IMDb reports:
The producers, one of them being Kevin Reynolds’ longtime friend, Kevin Costner, took over the editing of this movie, going to the extent of physically locking the original editor, Peter Boyle, out of the editing suite. However, they were contractually obligated under Directors’ Guild rules to show their cut to Reynolds. He was less than impressed with what they’d done to his movie.
The drama continued onto the sets of Waterworld. According to All The Right Movies [via Twitter/X]:
The stress and delays took their toll. Reynolds and Costner reportedly had a big falling out, and Reynolds left the project 3 months from the end. Reynolds said “Kevin should only star in movies he directs. Then he can work with his favorite actor and director.”
Kevin Costner himself took over the task of directing and editing the film. In today’s context, the incident reflects poorly on Costner’s production of Horizon: An American Saga — a film equally fraught, although without its perils. The actor-director’s inability to accustom to the growing pains of the situation and understand the needs of the whole production over his own coupled with bad marketing contributed to the film’s failure.
It comes as no surprise that Horizon now holds a paltry 49% rating on the film critic website Rotten Tomatoes. Made on a budget of $100 million, it has already been pulled from most theaters after a rough ride, earning only $31 million worldwide [via The Numbers].