Kevin Costner’s Forgotten Western Flop from 31 Years Ago Just Hit Netflix
Kevin Costner’s 1994 Western Wyatt Earp—Once Overshadowed by Tombstone—Heads to Netflix
Kevin Costner has built a career as one of Hollywood’s most iconic leading men, winning two Academy Awards for directing and producing 1990’s Dances with Wolves. But not every project he’s taken on has struck gold. In 1994, Costner portrayed legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in a sweeping Western biopic that aimed high—but ultimately fell short, both critically and commercially.
Released just a year after Tombstone, which starred Kurt Russell in the same role, Wyatt Earp was widely seen as a rival project. Where Tombstone delivered a stylized, action-packed take on the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Costner’s film took a slower, more introspective approach, focusing heavily on Earp’s early life and long journey to becoming a lawman in frontier towns like Dodge City and, eventually, Tombstone.
Despite its ambitions and star-studded cast—including Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday and Gene Hackman as Nicholas Earp—the film failed to connect with audiences at the time. With a hefty $63 million budget, Wyatt Earp brought in only $56 million globally. Reviews were lukewarm, earning just a 31% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, though it fared slightly better with audiences at 61%. In contrast, Tombstone was a surprise hit, earning a 76% critics’ score and a glowing 93% audience rating, and has since become a cult classic.
Still, Wyatt Earp managed to secure an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography in 1995. Directed and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan—known for scripting Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back—the film marked his second Western with Costner following Silverado (1985).
Now, over 30 years later, Wyatt Earp is getting a second chance as it arrives on Netflix on August 1. The film also features a strong supporting cast including David Andrews, Joanna Going, Mark Harmon, Bill Pullman, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Sizemore, and Isabella Rossellini.
Costner, reflecting on the film in a 2024 interview with ScreenRant, addressed the longtime comparisons to Tombstone. “I love Wyatt, or I just love that movie,” he said. “We got into a level of competition with Tombstone. A good friend said, ‘We don’t wanna compete.’ And I said, ‘Look, I’m sure this writer, director wants to make this movie—let them.’ And then this kind of space race started.”
“I always regretted that there was this kind of weird competition,” he continued. “Tombstone was a fun movie, but it’s too bad it went the way it went.”
Today, Costner remains a towering figure in the Western genre. He recently starred in Taylor Sheridan’s hit series Yellowstone and is currently spearheading Horizon: An American Saga, a multi-part frontier epic that he co-wrote, directed, and stars in. According to Horizon co-star Danny Huston, much of Chapter 3 in the series has already been filmed, although production reportedly paused in mid-2024.
“He’s just unbelievable, and this dream of his is coming to life in a spectacular way,” Huston said.
In the meantime, viewers can revisit—or discover for the first time—Costner’s more contemplative take on one of the Old West’s most famous lawmen when Wyatt Earp begins streaming on Netflix on August 1.
