Kevin Costner‘s contribution to the Western genre cannot be overstated. In a career spanning over four decades, the actor has displayed an undeniable presence in the genre. However, his biggest role in a Western series came in 2018 when he debuted in Taylor Sheridan‘s hit neo-Western Yellowstone. His striking portrayal of the show’s patriarch, John Dutton, made him an instant favorite among viewers. That’s why when the news broke of his impending departure ahead of the final season of Yellowstone, nothing was ever the same again.
The story behind Costner’s exit from the Paramount+ series at its peak was complicated, with reports of behind-the-scenes tensions. It was reported that Paramount and Costner were not on the best of terms because the final season of Yellowstone was interfering with Costner’s passion project. Reducing the character’s screen time was not enough, and Sheridan ultimately killed the character in the final season in one of TV’s most controversial deaths.
Horizon: An American Saga was the project that Costner had spent years trying to get made. The sprawling saga of early America debuted in 2024 to mixed reviews. Split into four parts, the first one currently has a 51% critic score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The film also underperformed at the box office, failing to recoup its budget. The second part was delayed to give the franchise an opportunity to cultivate a fanbase on streaming. After hitting HBO Max and Netflix, Horizon Chapter 1 recently landed on Prime Video in the US and has already become one of the most-streamed movies. It needs to be a breakout hit on streaming if the remaining chapters are to get released.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
What Happened to Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga?’
In his ideal world, Costner would make four films in this saga. Three have shown promise, two have been filmed, and one has been released. The franchise’s distributors put the second part in an indefinite hiatus after the first underperformed, which is why the movie needs to do well on Prime Video. Meanwhile, production of the third part has hit a financial snag, and the fourth exists only in writing. To make matters worse, the franchise is embroiled in all kinds of legal disputes, ones that are not ending soon. Still, Costner has beaten production odds before, and he believes in this tetralogy. Whether that’s enough remains to be seen.
Stream Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One on Prime Video in the US and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
