Kevin Costner’s Net Worth is a Field of Dreams
Kevin Costner’s net worth is estimated at $250 million in 2024. This makes him right in the middle of the pack of other movie stars who are as famous as he is. Let’s talk about how he made his fortune and became a star.
Meeting Richard Burton Changes Kevin Costner’s Life
Young Kevin Costner
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Costner married his first wife, Cindy Silva, right after graduating from college. They went on their honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. On the return trip, the actor Richard Burton was on the plane. Burton purchased all the seats surrounding him so that he would not be disturbed. Despite this, Costner asked to speak with him. After finishing the book he was reading, Burton waved him over.
Costner recalls that at the time, he had not told anyone about his secret desire to become an actor, not even his new wife. Costner asked Burton if he would have to deal with all the drama that followed Burton around if Costner became an actor. Burton laughed and told Costner that they both have blue eyes, so he thought Costner would be fine.
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, while Costner and his wife were waiting for a taxi, Burton pulled up in his limousine. Burton rolled down the window to wish him good luck. They never met again, but it was just the encouragement the young man needed.
Breaking Into Film
Costner became an actor the hard way with nobody’s help breaking into the business. He worked odd jobs that allowed him time off to go to auditions. He worked on fishing boats and as a truck driver. He worked as a tour guide to movie stars’ Hollywood homes. He took acting classes with any spare money he could muster up.
His first role in a film was in Sizzle Beach, U.S.A., a low-budget picture from Troma Films that was shot in 1978 and 1979. The movie was so bad that it was not released until 1986 after Costner became a popular actor. Costner tried to buy the film rights to keep it from being shown, but Troma refused to sell them. Costner was embarrassed that the film included a sex scene with him showing all of his stuff.
Costner needn’t have worried because nobody cared about the lousy film, and few bothered to see it. In 1987, Costner’s career started going way up with the release of The Untouchables.
The Untouchables (1987) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers
Kevin Costner's Net Worth From Films
As the lead actor, Costner has been in 37 movies that raked in a total worldwide box office of almost $3 billion. He likes to get paid $10 to $15 million per film. When he is the film’s producer, executive producer, or director, he makes more if the film is a box office success.
His biggest earning movies were playing the character of Jonathan Kent in the Superman franchise films of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel. Those films earned a global box office of $872 million and $668 million, respectively.
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Costner’s acting career took off in 1987 when he starred in The Untouchables. The film made $76 million worldwide. He followed this success with leading roles in No Way Out (1987), Bull Durham (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), and Revenge (1990).
Then came the film that was the most popular one of his career and that Costner is best known for - Dances with Wolves. It was released in 1990. It made $424 million worldwide. He was both the film’s star and the director. The film won the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture.
In 1992, he had another major success with The Bodyguard that earned over $410 million worldwide.
Kevin Costner's Gets Soggy from Waterworld
After being at the pinnacle of fame in the early 1990s, his career started to wane in 1994 with the release of The War. After that, he was in the critically-panned Waterworld, released in 1995. The big-budget film is terrible. It made $264 million worldwide, which was not nearly enough to cover its production and release budgets.
In 1997, he was the lead actor and the director of The Postman, which won the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Director. He hit a low point with a cameo appearance in the film Play it to the Bone, released in 1999 with a miserable box office of only $8 million. Many thought his acting career was over.
Kevin Costner's Is Hammered by Divorce
In 1978, before there was even any hint of fame and fortune, Costner married his college sweetheart, Cindy Silva. The marriage lasted 16 years. They had three children together. When they got divorced in 1994, estimates are that the divorce cost Costner around $80 million.
This was a rough time in his life. This probably explains, at least in part, why all the movies he made in the latter half of the 1990s were so terrible.
After the divorce, he started dating and had a relationship with Bridget Rooney that gave the two of them a son. Also, he dated Elle Macpherson and Birgit Cunningham. In 2004, he married Christine Baumgartner. They are still married, and he had three children with her.
Kevin Costner & Modern West
In 2007, Costner formed a band called Kevin Costner & Modern West. He took it on a global tour. The band headlined many festivals, including the Malibu Guitar Festival. The band gained a following by releasing the albums Untold Truths (2008) and Turn It On (2010).
They released a total of four studio albums and toured Europe from 2009 to 2012. The reception in Europe was nice. Besides being famous as an actor, Costner does have his musical chops down. He gives a strong performance with his band that is quite good. It was fun to watch him perform the song Red River in Germany in 2009. His band’s sound has an Eagles rock band feel to it. They could easily record a cover of Hotel California.
Kevin Costner's From His Film Comeback
To everyone’s surprise, Costner’s career reinvigorated in the 2000s with the films Thirteen Days (2000), 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), DragonFly (2002), Open Range (2003), The Upside of Anger (2005), Rumor Has It (2005), The Guardian (2006), and Mr. Brooks (2007).
He also had another major hit with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, released in 2014 that earned $131 million worldwide.
Nevertheless, Costner recently made another flop. Let Him Go, released in November 2020, has the distinction of being on the top-100 list of the lowest box office results for a feature film with a theatrical release. It made only $10 million worldwide, and that did not cover even half of the cost of making and releasing the film. Is this the start of a new string of flops, like what happened before?
Every famous actor has a bad film or two or three. Costner already made a bunch of bad films in the late 1990s. Costner should not be making films that perform poorly at the box office at this point in his career. If he makes three bad ones in a row now, he may see his film career fade again. However, I wouldn’t recommend betting on him staying down for very long. Many in Hollywood call him the “Come Back Kid.”
The pandemic put theatrical releases on pause, so now it remains to be seen what comes from Costner's next movie release in the film business. In the meantime, he is making the big bucks on television projects.
Kevin Costner's From Television
Costner is in the television series called Yellowstone, which he has been starring in since 2018. The series is in its third season. He is also the executive producer for the series. He makes $500,000 per episode and has received over $10.8 million in compensation so far.
YELLOWSTONE Official Trailer (2018) Kevin Costner, TV Series HD
Costner is the Executive Producer of another television series called National Parks that is currently filming. No estimate yet on what he will make for that television series, but it is certainly in the multiple millions if it becomes popular.
Kevin Costner's From Real Estate
Costner is land-rich. He owns a 160-acre ranch in Aspen that is worth a fortune. He rents out for $650,000 per month when he is not staying there. The main ranch house on the property has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms.
There are three houses on the lakefront property, a private baseball field, three large hot tubs, and a hill for the kids to use in winter for sledding. The property comfortably accommodates 27 people, so the cost per person per month is only around $24,000. Compare this to the $30,000 per night rental rate, and it is a discount to rent the property for a full month.
Costner also owns a large 10-acre coastal estate with a private beach. It is in Carpentaria, California, near Santa Barbara. He listed the property for sale in 2017 at $60 million, reduced the price to $49 million in 2018, and then decided not to sell it.
In 2006, in the same area of California, the Costners bought a 17-acre plot of land overlooking the ocean for $28.5 million. Another 7-acre parcel in that area they sold for $25 million in 2009.
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Tatanka
In 2004, Costner opened a museum-like attraction on US Highway 85, just one mile north of Deadwood, South Dakota, called Tatanka: The Story of the Bison. Costner built this attraction to help teach people about the history of westward expansion in the United States.
A long time ago, 30 to 60 million bison filled the Great Plains of America. When the white settlers came, the buffalo were slaughtered so intensely that less than 1,000 survived.
Tatanka is a respectful place that does not tell the white man’s story. Instead, it focuses on the interdependence of the Native Americans with the buffalo. The massacre of Native Americans happened along with the killing of millions of bison that were the Native Americans’ sustenance and treasured resource.
At Tatanka, there is an amazing, larger-than-life bronze sculpture featuring 14 bison being pursued by three Native American riders. On display are costumes from the Dances with Wolves movie. There are daily Lakota interpretive presentations to enjoy that simulate Native American life.
Kevin Costner's From Midnight Star Casino
Costner owns the Midnight Star Casino in Deadwood, South Dakota. In 2004, he fired his casino managers. They sued. Costner was supposed to pay a portion of the appraised value of $6.1 million to them under court order. Costner appealed the ruling to the South Dakota Supreme Court. When audited, the casino value was reduced to $3.1 million. Costner bought out the portion owned by the managers for half of what they claimed it was worth.
Maybe those casino managers should have realized who they were dealing with when they tried to cheat Costner. Kevin Costner is a good businessman. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in finance and marketing from California State University Fullerton.
Conclusion
Although Kevin Costner’s career had some ups and down overall, he has done very well for himself. It was just a kid that grew up in the poor community of Compton, California, for part of his childhood and then moved around from town to town in California for the rest of his upbringing. If Richard Burton had not encouraged him with a few kind words, he might never have followed his dream to become an actor.
What makes him interesting is his heartland of American appeal, as if he is from the Midwest or something. He plays convincing western characters, ranchers, and sturdy leading men as roles even though his background is more beach-oriented, like Sizzle Beach U.S.A. Well, that is why they call it acting. He is a good ole country boy from Santa Barbara, California. Being able to pretend to be someone different from who you are, is the required talent to succeed.
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