Kevin Costner’s sudden exit from Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” may have left fans upset, but one of the reasons for the breakup can be traced back to the ever-evolving world of Sheridan, which is rife with prequels and spinoffs. Of course, there are a ton of variables to consider regarding the situation, including scheduling conflicts with Costner’s passion projects, a time-consuming production schedule, and the lack of a viable script for “Season 5B” of the series. While it’s impossible to understand what really happened here due to clashing statements and perspectives, this isn’t the first time Costner has clashed with a colleague. An incredibly unexpected incident occurred on the set of the 2001 action comedy “3000 Miles to Graceland,” in which he co-starred with Kurt Russell.
3000 Miles to Graceland features an ultra-violent, entertaining heist movie that ends up being a total mess. Costner and Russell play fellow parolees/gang members involved in a high-stakes casino heist in Las Vegas, with the group disguised as Elvis impersonators during a convention. Needless to say, the $3.2 million heist causes a rift within the gang and pandemonium ensues. While this sounds like a perfectly reasonable plot for a comedy-action thriller, 3000 Miles to Graceland is baffling from start to finish, replete with giant CGI scorpions fighting in the desert for no apparent reason at the start of the film.
Unexpectedly, 3000 Miles to Graceland was a critical and commercial flop when it was released. But the real fight was happening behind the scenes, when co-stars Costner and Russell competed to get their respective edits to be the final cut of the film, with Costner winning. What happened?
3000 Miles to Costner’s Final Cut
Before we get into that, it’s worth mentioning that the film was directed and co-produced by Demian Lichtenstein, so neither Costner nor Russell directed it. A report published by ABC News in 2000A source revealed to Insider.com that the actors were given the opportunity to direct their own versions of the final cut, which were then shown to test audiences to gauge their reactions. Costner’s version was the clear winner, as it was “more pure action” and Russell’s was “more character driven.” The same source said that Lichtenstein (again, the film’s actual director) had no problem with the outcome. Ultimately, Costner’s edit was the version that was printed and released in theaters (for better or worse).
The situation is very different from Yellowstone for obvious reasons. Moreover, there doesn’t seem to be any animosity between Russell and Costner, despite them competing over their respective edits. While neither Warner Bros. nor the cast have made any official statements about the incident, Costner’s version doesn’t draw good parallels with the influences the film overplays, including pop-culture-heavy dialogue and overblown, gratuitous violence for thrills’ sake. There are some interesting stylistic flairs here and there, but the overall tonal incongruity makes for a disjointed, muddled version of the heist comedy.
It’s impossible to judge whether Russell’s cut was better, but the film might have benefited from a focus more on its characters, quirky and eccentric as they are, who were never fleshed out in the final cut, or perhaps “3000 Miles to Graceland” never had a cut half as intriguing as the seductive silence of the “what if” conundrum.
