Kevin Costner gambled $38M of his own money and mortgaged property to make Horizon films: 'I'm as far out on a limb right now as I've ever been'

Kevin Costner was rumored to have spent $20M of his own money in order to help fund his $100M-budget two-part western Horizon: An American Saga, but it was actually $38M.

'That's the truth. That's the real number,' the 69-year-old Yellowstone star confirmed in his GQ cover story on Monday.

'It's kind of an independent movie. My wife [Christine Baumgartner] and I knew we were going to finance it. We just mortgaged a property, a beachfront property in Santa Barbara. Ten acres. I said, "It's a good deal." And she said, "Yeah, one more and we're out of business."'

Kevin finalized his contentious divorce from his 49-year-old ex on February 16 after 18 years of marriage, but he said the split was 'not related' to his 'crazy' financial gamble.

Contrasting himself to Ahab in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, Costner said: 'The white whale obsessed him so much that he would take everybody down with them. I take nobody down with me. I take the risk myself.'

Kevin Costner was rumored to have spent $20M of his own money in order to help fund his $100M-budget two-part western Horizon: An American Saga, but it was actually $38M

The 69-year-old Yellowstone star confirmed in his GQ cover story on Monday: 'That's the truth. That's the real number. It's kind of an independent movie. My wife [Christine Baumgartner] and I knew we were going to finance it. We just mortgaged a property, a beachfront property in Santa Barbara. Ten acres. I said, "It's a good deal." And she said, "Yeah, one more and we're out of business"'

The two-time Oscar winner - who's been dating Grammy-nominated singer Jewel - agreed to pay Christine $63K/month in child support to help care for son Cayden Wyatt, 16; son Hayes Logan, 15; and daughter Grace Avery, 13.

Kevin not only battled Baumgartner in court, he also battled Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan over the filming schedule along with delays from the WGA/SAG strikes pausing filming on Horizon, which he now wants to expand to two more films despite not securing the financing. 

'So much. Very serious stuff. And those things are very important,' Costner marveled.

'I have to deal with them. And I have to deal with them on a daily basis, emotionally, historically almost. And then there's the immediate needs of children. I'm not going to list the things — I'm going to stop right there with them. That is my job, looking at that, and dealing with that.'

The Modern West frontman conceded: 'There's a lot that has happened. I'm right now looking at myself in the dark and going, Are you going to f***ing stand up and finish? Get up. I'm the audience. Get up, Kevin. Get the f*** up and deal with this and find the joy every day of seeing your kids play while you're here — and then work your a** off to get this thing finished.' 

Kevin produced, wrote, directed, and stars as Hayes Ellison in the two-part epic set before and after the Civil War - hitting US theaters June 28 and August 16 - something that 'has never been done' before in film history.

'Well, if I think about [both films bombing], I'll just be frozen,' Costner said.

'I'm making Three right now. I was just out there scouting. I don't want to be frozen in my life. Besides that, September is not going to define my life, so f*** off. What will define my life will be: Will people visit this movie 10 years from now? And I'm going to own that film. And so whatever commerce comes from that film, 10 years and 20 years from now, 30 years from now, I own that and so do my heirs.'

Kevin finalized his contentious divorce from his 49-year-old ex (R, pictured in 2022) on February 16 after 18 years of marriage, but he said the split was 'not related' to his 'crazy' financial gamble

Contrasting himself to Ahab in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, Costner said: 'The white whale obsessed him so much that he would take everybody down with them. I take nobody down with me. I take the risk myself'

The two-time Oscar winner - pictured Sunday with five of his seven children - agreed to pay Christine $63K/month in child support to help care for son Cayden Wyatt (L), 16; son Hayes Logan (2-R), 15; and daughter Grace Avery (3-L), 13

Kevin not only battled Baumgartner in court, he also battled Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan over the filming schedule along with delays from the WGA/SAG strikes pausing filming on Horizon, which he now wants to expand to two more films despite not securing the financing (pictured Monday)

Costner conceded: 'There's a lot that has happened. I'm right now looking at myself in the dark and going, Are you going to f***ing stand up and finish? Get up. I'm the audience. Get up, Kevin. Get the f*** up and deal with this and find the joy every day of seeing your kids play while you're here — and then work your a** off to get this thing finished'

The JFK alum added: 'If my psychiatrist looked at me and they said, "Kevin, let me get this straight. Nobody wanted to make one, right? At least at that point when you stopped, they didn't want to make it?" I said, "Yeah." And she goes, "Why do you then go out and write four more? Why do you go and do that?"

'And I guess the answer is: Because I believe. But I can also see that psychiatrist going, "Yeah, but no one wanted one, and you just did four." As if I didn't hear her the first time. And I can't defend that psyche. I can't defend anything other than the story just kept getting better and better for me.'

That's the message Kevin want his children to understand about who he is, 'That I do what I believe in,' regardless if its successful like 1990's Dances with Wolves or box office poison like 1995's Waterworld and 1997's The Postman.

'I have fear like everybody else. I don't want to be humiliated,' Costner noted.

'I mean, it's okay, maybe I lose the [beachfront property in Santa Barbara]. But it's: "Have I lost myself?"'

The Emmy winner added: 'I'm as far out on a limb right now as I've ever been. There's, f***ing, some animal... There's eight down there that want me. And I'm going to just be a ball of fur if I hit the ground. So I'm up here. I'm as far out as I've ever been.' 

Horizon - which received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday - also features Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, and Jamie Campbell Bower.

However, Horizon Part One currently has a dismal 20% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from five reviews, including THR's David Rooney who called the film 'an awkwardly stitched quilt, which rarely provides the space for anyone's experiences to resonate.'

The Modern West frontman produced, wrote, directed, and stars as Hayes Ellison in the two-part epic set before and after the Civil War - hitting US theaters June 28 and August 16 - something that 'has never been done' before in film history

Kevin added: 'Well, if I think about [both films bombing], I'll just be frozen. I'm making Three right now. I was just out there scouting. I don't want to be frozen in my life. Besides that, September is not going to define my life, so f*** off'

'What will define my life will be: Will people visit this movie 10 years from now? And I'm going to own that film. And so whatever commerce comes from that film, 10 years and 20 years from now, 30 years from now, I own that and so do my heirs'

That's the message Costner want his children to understand about who he is, 'That I do what I believe in,' regardless if its successful like 1990's Dances with Wolves or box office poison like 1995's Waterworld and 1997's The Postman

Horizon - which received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Sunday (pictured) - also features Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, and Jamie Campbell Bower 

However, Horizon Part One currently has a dismal 20% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from five reviews, including THR's David Rooney who called the film 'an awkwardly stitched quilt, which rarely provides the space for anyone's experiences to resonate'

Rooney said Horizon was 'muddled' and 'a clumsy slog' and noted the 'uncomfortably long time the film takes to show sensitivity toward its Indigenous characters'

Rooney said Horizon was 'muddled' and 'a clumsy slog' and noted the 'uncomfortably long time the film takes to show sensitivity toward its Indigenous characters.'

Kevin was set to conclude his Golden Globe-winning role as John Dutton III in the second part of the fifth (and final) season of Taylor Sheridan and John Linson's western Yellowstone, which resumes November 10 on the Paramount Network.

Costner's Montana rancher character is rumored to be killed off with a deadly recurrence of colon cancer, which afflicted him during the first season.

'Well, Taylor and I know what the conditions are for coming back, and I'll just keep that between ourselves,' the Green Mountain Coffee brand ambassador said of the role.

'And if we can't get to it, it's because at the end of the day, it's unreasonable for them or something. I love that character. I love that world. I am a person that is very script oriented. And if the scripts aren't there now, I need to know what I am. I want to make sure that the character lines up with what's important to me too. And that's pretty simple. That's just between, again, Taylor and myself. Can we ever get there? I don't know.'

Kevin added: 'What am I supposed to do? I'm just not a dog that waits in a driveway not knowing when the person's going to come home. I want to know. And I also understood that their universe was really big, so I just decided not to sit in the driveway, but to be busy myself and be available when I could. It didn't end up happening.'