Kevin Costner’s next career move, Waterworld‑inspired, revealed after Horizon flop & Yellowstone spat
Kevin Costner Planning Treasure-Hunting Series Amid Career Turmoil and On-Set Drama
Kevin Costner is reportedly diving into a new passion project: a treasure-hunting television series inspired by deep-sea exploration. This comes amid swirling reports of professional tension and a rocky career patch.
Sources say the Oscar-winning actor is channeling his energy into an ambitious new show about recovering sunken treasure around the world. “Kevin is obsessed with deep-sea diving and recently uncovered gold coins and emeralds in the Caribbean,” an insider shared. “Now, he’s pitching a series that follows global treasure hunts.”
Despite the intriguing premise, the project has yet to secure funding, possibly due to Costner’s waning influence in Hollywood after the underwhelming performance of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, which failed to meet expectations at the box office last summer.
Costner’s interest in the ocean isn’t new. He directed and starred in the 1995 cult film Waterworld, and played a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in The Guardian. He also previously revealed plans to team up with archaeologist Alex Mirabal to launch an underwater exploration company. In a 2019 Facebook video, Costner recounted meeting Mirabal while investigating a Portuguese shipwreck in Mozambique. They later visited maritime archives in Havana, where Costner described their goal as “bringing history back alive.”
Earlier this year, he fronted Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner, a three-part documentary for Fox Nation that traced the historic 1903 Yosemite expedition of President Theodore Roosevelt and environmentalist John Muir. The series also spotlighted the Indigenous legacy of the region and the origins of the National Park system.
Costner previously hosted Yellowstone: One-Fifty in 2022, exploring key moments in the creation of America’s national parks. At the time, he called it “a story that really happened and changed the world for the better.”
Behind the scenes, however, the actor’s career has been marked by increasing tension — especially on the set of Yellowstone. Sources recently claimed Costner clashed with co-star Wes Bentley during a heated on-set argument. The confrontation reportedly turned physical when Costner allegedly “lunged” at Bentley over creative differences tied to Taylor Sheridan’s script. The dispute led to a temporary production shutdown and reportedly left actress Kelly Reilly in tears.
Bentley allegedly resisted Costner’s push to deviate from Sheridan’s script, telling him, “I signed on for a Taylor Sheridan show, not a Kevin Costner production.” A source described the altercation as the boiling point of mounting creative conflicts and inflated egos.
Amid the fallout, rumors have circulated that Costner is becoming increasingly isolated in the industry, with insiders claiming many are hesitant to work with him again. He’s been accused of rewriting scripts without warning, disregarding direction, and clashing with castmates.
However, Rick Nicita, Costner’s former agent from 2002 to 2008, defended him. “The word ‘difficult’ gets thrown around too easily,” Nicita said. “Kevin wasn’t difficult in the way people think — he just knew what he wanted and wasn’t a great compromiser. That confidence can come off as arrogance.”
In recent months, Costner has drawn attention for delivering paid keynote speeches at unconventional events, including bakery and veterinary conferences. Some in the industry say these appearances signal a wider personal and professional disconnect.
“He seems lost, and that’s the only way I can describe it,” said one longtime collaborator. “Somewhere along the way, he got off track — and I still don’t know why.”
