Kevin Costner has always been a man who bets on himself, even when the odds aren’t in his favor. Rising to the pinnacle of Hollywood in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, he was the embodiment of cinematic success—two Academy Awards, a string of box office hits, and the power to handpick his roles from an avalanche of top-tier scripts. But like Icarus, he flew too close to the sun—twice.
At his peak, Costner’s golden touch seemed unstoppable. That was until The Postman crashed and burned, proving that lightning wouldn’t strike twice after the massive success of Dances with Wolves. Despite investing his own money and pouring himself into the project as producer and star, the film became a notorious flop. Yet, undeterred by past failures, Costner has never shied away from taking risks, even sacrificing his lucrative role in Yellowstone to pursue his ambitious, yet uncertain, four-part epic Horizon.
But The Postman wasn’t the first time Costner found himself on the losing end of a Hollywood gamble. The western genre delivered a high-profile showdown in the early ‘90s when Wyatt Earp, the film he starred in and produced, went head-to-head with Tombstone, which featured Kurt Russell in the same legendary lawman role.
Although both films were shot in 1993, Tombstone hit theaters first and became an instant favorite among western fans. By the time Wyatt Earp arrived six months later, audiences had already embraced its predecessor. Costner’s film cost twice as much to make yet earned significantly less at the box office, sealing its fate as the lesser of the two.
Reflecting on the experience in an interview with GQ, Costner admitted that the competition with Tombstone wasn’t ideal. “I love Wyatt—or I just love that movie,” he said. “We got into a level of competition with Tombstone. A good friend said, ‘Look, we can postpone this movie. We don’t want to compete.’ I said, ‘Look, I’m sure this writer, director wants to make this movie, let them.’ And then this kind of space race started. And I always regretted that there was this kind of weird competition, and it was a fun movie, Tombstone, but it’s too bad the way it went.”
Costner had the chance to delay Wyatt Earp and potentially avoid the battle, but instead, he walked straight into a cinematic duel he couldn’t win. Still, if history has proven anything, it’s that Kevin Costner doesn’t dwell on missteps—he keeps moving forward, ready to take the next big swing, no matter the risk.
