Kevin Costner is reportedly developing a new treasure-hunting television series amid reports he is ‘furious’ over The Hollywood Reporter’s recent exposé on his career.
While the two-time Oscar winner is said to be ‘very angry’ over the scathing feature, which suggests he’s ‘lost the plot,’ a source told Page Six he has his sights set on an unexpected project.
‘Kevin Costner is on a deep-sea diving binge to discover sunken treasure,’ the insider revealed. ‘He found gold coins and emeralds recently in the Caribbean. Now he’s shopping a TV series on finding sunken treasure around the world.’
Despite his best efforts, ‘no one has signed on to finance it’ just yet.
The difficulty may be related to his alleged ‘cold streak around town’ following the disappointing box office results of Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, which was theatrically released last summer.
Costner’s interest in ocean exploration isn’t new as he previously helmed the ambitious 1995 aquatic epic Waterworld and portrayed a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in The Guardian.
Kevin Costner is reportedly developing a new treasure-hunting television series amid reports he is ‘furious’ over The Hollywood Reporter’s recent exposé on his career
The father-of-seven also teased plans to launch an underwater exploration venture with archaeologist Alex Mirabal in the past.
In a video posted to Facebook, Costner revealed they met when he was exploring a Portuguese shipwreck in Mozambique.
Earlier this year, they visited the nautical archives of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza Museum in Havana.
‘Alex and I have been pursuing the idea of bringing history back alive,’ he said in the recording, uploaded back in 2019. ‘We formed a company, and right now we’re looking for a boat.’
In February, his three-part limited series Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner debuted on Fox Nation.
The series followed him tracing the ‘1903 Yosemite expedition of President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir,’ according to Deadline.
He also explored ‘the region’s Indigenous American legacy, Yosemite’s history and how the Roosevelt-Muir expedition bolstered the National Park system and led to the creation of national forests and protection of 230 million acres of land.’
In 2022, Costner hosted and served as executive producer of Yellowstone: One-Fifty.
While the two-time Oscar winner is said to be ‘very angry’ over the scathing feature, a source told Page Six he has his sights set on an unexpected project that has already struck gold
‘Kevin Costner is on a deep-sea diving binge to discover sunken treasure,’ the insider revealed
‘Once in a while, you come across a story that has that truly special mix of elements — it’s stranger than fiction and happens against all odds,’ he said in a statement, at the time. ‘It results in something that legitimately changes the world for the good and, most importantly, it all really happened.’
Earlier this month, The Hollywood Reporter claimed Costner ‘lunged’ at his Yellowstone costar, Wes Bentley, during a heated altercation.
Costner allegedly lost his temper after Bentley, 47, refused to ‘ditch Taylor Sheridan’s script’ and try doing the scene ‘his way.’
One insider claimed Bentley ‘told Costner that he had signed up for a Taylor Sheridan show, not a Kevin Costner production.’
‘Kevin didn’t like that, and he lunged at him,’ one source who was present described to the outlet. ‘No fists were thrown, but they were in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving and just getting hot until they had to be separated.’
Despite his best efforts, ‘no one has signed on to finance it’ yet
This reportedly left actress Kelly Reilly, who plays Beth Dutton, in tears and forced the hit Paramount series to briefly halt production.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Paramount as well as representatives for Costner, Bentley, Reilly and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, but have not heard back at this time.
The alleged incident was described as ‘a tipping point on a set already cracking from creative power struggles and bruised egos.’
‘There’s a long list of people in Hollywood who swear they’ll never work with Costner again,’ the outlet claimed.
Other complaints about Costner, over the years, include his alleged inability to follow directions, tendency to rewrite ‘scripts without warning’ and frequent clashes with costars.
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter claimed Costner ‘lunged’ at his Yellowstone costar, Wes Bentley, during a heated altercation
Costner allegedly lost his temper after Bentley, 47, refused to ‘ditch Taylor Sheridan’s script’ and try doing the scene ‘his way’
Costner’s former agent Rick Nicita, who represented him from 2002 to 2008, however, hit back at claims of his former client being challenging.
‘The word difficult gets used a lot,’ Nicita explained to THR. ‘It can mean someone who won’t come out of their trailer, or someone who doesn’t know their lines, or is rude. That’s not Kevin.’
He continued: ‘He wanted what he wanted and knew what he wanted and if he didn’t get it … well, he was never a great compromiser. It’s a firm belief in himself and a confidence that to some can play as arrogance.’
In recent months, Costner has raised eyebrows for giving paid keynote speeches at unconventional events, like bakery and veterinarian conventions.
Insiders have claimed to THR that the chaos surrounding him extends far beyond Yellowstone, pointing to potential power struggles in Costner’s personal life that have left him ‘in the dark.’
‘It’s sad, and that’s the only thing I can think of,’ said one longtime collaborator told THR. ‘I think he got lost in the ether and to this day, I just don’t get it.’
