Settling back into a comfortable groove—i.e., long-winded odes to horses and the men that ride them—Kevin Costner has announced that he’s developing, and intends to direct, a new 10-hour Western film (or series of films, or possible TV miniseries, as the case may be). The Dances With Wolves director is currently doing press for the NASA drama Hidden Figures, but apparently can’t keep himself off the range for long.
Costner has outlined the basics of this latest project, which would join Wolves, Silverado, Open Range, and Wyatt Earp in his ongoing efforts to give the entertainment writers of the world a chance to use the word “oater” in casual conversation. “It’s about 10 hours long, how about that?” the actor-director told Variety. “Maybe I’ll make three features out of it. There’s a fourth one, too, so it’s truly a saga.” It’s still early enough in the project’s lifespan that Costner hasn’t nailed down where this latest opus might land. “I could do TV, or I could also make it like every six months, have a big Western that’s tied together like Jean De Florette and Manon Of The Spring,” Costner said, referencing Claude Berri’s celebrated duology of French period films. ”I think those are fun to watch,” he added, because nothing says “fun”, Kevin Costner-style, like multi-part movies about farmers arguing over water rights in 19th century France.