Kevin Costner‘s “Horizon” saga may be on a bit of forced hiatus, but it looks like he’ll have some other work in the interim. Deadline reports that the actor will star in, co-write, and co-produce the upcoming surfer thriller “Headhunters,” the feature directorial debut of “Missing” DP Steven Holleran. Based on the synopsis, the upcoming film couldn’t be more different than “Horizion”: a lean, mean survivalist drama set in the south Pacific.
READ MORE: Kevin Costner Is Still Determined To Make A Third ‘Horizon’ Film: “I’m Gonna Make It”
In the film, Costner will play a mysterious American ex-pat who washes up in Bali, Indonesia. After he falls in with a group of surfers in pursuit of the perfect wave, a local photographer leads them to uncharted island — where an ancient tribe of headhunters live that will protect their land at any cost. One imagines where the set-up goes from there: lots of brutal deaths and assorted bloodshed.
“Station Eleven” actor Daniel Zovatto will star in “Headhunters” alongside Costner. Costner co-produces through his Territory Pictures banner with Scott Steindorff of Stone Village Films. Coincidentally, Steindroff also executive produced “Station Eleven,” which may be where Zovatto’s casting comes from. Other producers on the pic include Costner’s Territory partner Howard Kaplan, and Stone Village’s Dylan Russell, Lindsay Davis, and Stacey Woods.
A question looms over the “Headhunters” news: how will this production affect Costner wrapping up “Horizon: An American Saga”? After “Part 2” had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, it remains unclear if Costner will get to continue on with his planned last two parts and complete the saga. Warner Bros. doesn’t look too keen about helping fund the project. The studio pulled “Part 2” from an August theatrical release after “Part 1” had a dismal box office run this summer. The release plans for “Part 2” currently remain unknown.
Despite that, Costner sounds hopeful about completing his long-gestating film series. “I don’t know how I’m gonna make 3 right now, but I’m gonna make it,” he told Deadline at Venice. Developing the first three “Horizon” films has already cost Costner $98 million; a fourth “will push me over $100 million,” said the actor. If Costner wants to complete “Horizon” any time soon, he should probably take some studio gigs to pay off the gigantic debt the project has him in instead of stuff like “Headhunters.” But maybe “Part 3” and “Part 4” are closer to realization than the public realizes…
In any case, expect “Headhunters” in theaters sometime in 2025.