Kevin Costner cut a smart figure in a suit as he arrived at the the red carpet for Warner Bros.’ presentation at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas.
The event, titled The Big Picture, featured a look ahead at the major studios slate of upcoming films, including some footage of Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in the Mad Max: Fury road prequel Furiosa.
Costner, 69, was on hand to promote his upcoming two-part Western epic Horizon, even as he has been the subject of speculation regarding the possibility that he will still appear in the final season of Yellowstone after departing the series.
The actor looked years younger than his age when stepped out in a tasteful three-piece suit.
He contrasted the black jacket and matching vest with a classic white dress shirt, though he dressed down the more formal suit by skipping a tie and leaving his shirt partially unbuttoned.
He added a playful touch with a set of black cowboy boots, which were appropriate considering the number of Western projects he has shot in recent years.
Costner sported short blond hair swept to the side, and he had a youthful salt-and-pepper soul patch.
The Dances With Wolves star also stepped out in a set of classic black sunglasses for an extra cool touch, though he took them off and held them in his hand while posing.
Costner’s appearance at the convention included the release of new footage from Horizon — which he starred in, directed, produced and co-wrote — for theaters owners.
The film is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, with the first part of the epic to be released in US theaters on June 28 of this year, followed by part two on August 16.
Costner, who self-financed part of the $100 million film by mortgaging his ranch, made it clear that he hopes his investment will pay off.
‘Hopefully the people come and they keep coming and they binge your theaters,’ he said, according to Variety. ‘There’s something in me that wanted to make this movie, and I never make one that I think won’t blow up.’
Costner was focused on theatrical distribution for his film, and filmmakers and studios are increasingly becoming wary of releasing movies on streaming services.
As subscriber numbers have stagnated or failed to account for the cost of making films and TV shows, studios have recently been more willing to give films theatrical runs as viewers have returned to theaters, as a solid theatrical run is far more profitable than consigning a film to streaming.
Costner, who has been trying to get Horizon made since the late 1980s, reportedly teased that he may have even more chapters of Horizon in the pipeline if the film performs well enough.
‘In 2012, I decided to write four more of the one I couldn’t make,’ he said.
Variety reported that the new Horizon footage featured ‘wagon trains, Union troops, feuding ranchers, gunfights, tight-lipped lawmen, steely frontier women and sweeping vistas,’ which showed off the detail achieved thanks to the film’s sizable budget.
The film features a massive ensemble cast in which Costner is joined by Sienna Miller, Avatar’s Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Michael Rooker, Will Patton and Abbey Lee, among many others.
Horizon is reportedly the source of many of Costner’s conflicts with Yellowstone and the show’s co-creator and showrunner, Taylor Sheridan, as Costner is said to have wanted to spend less time filming the Western crime series in order to shoot his own film.