Kevin Costner Explains ‘Yellowstone’ Exit: ‘Time to Move On’ (Exclusive)

Kevin Costner is realizing his western field of dreams with his trailblazing new movie “Horizon."

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Kevin about the film and saying goodbye to “Yellowstone” after he just shared his official announcement on Instagram.

While there have been rumors that Costner’s character would be written out of the show, he said, “I just hadn't heard anything about how it would be done so... it was just time to move on and as gracefully as you can with something that's been very important to you.”

Kevin, who was on the hit show for five years, said, “Something I enjoyed, something that I helped sell, something that I helped birth… I was proud of that and what I was able to do.”

Aside from “Yellowstone,” Costner is also known for his epic western “Dances with Wolves.” Does he feel like he’s left something behind? He answered, “I wasn't going to be defined, but I knew I would revisit the West because so much of about what's informed me is created by the dilemmas westerns conjure up.”

On “Horizon,” Kevin was doing it all — writing, producing, directing, and acting!

He commented, “That's just the way it laid out on this one… I'm not jonesing to do all that stuff. It just is what it is.”

When asked if this is his swan song,  Kevin quipped, “It could kill me… This thing could be the end of me.”

Costner even ponied up $38 million of his own fortune to make “Horizon,” which is a four-part western saga.

It had been reported that Kevin mortgaged a house. He admitted, “More than that. It’s gone pretty deep.”

Costner tried not to blink putting out that money, saying, “You have to know what you're doing and that's what you're doing. And so now there's no crying, there's no complaining. There's just holding on to the rope.”

He pointed out, “I have dreams like anybody, and sometimes I have to let go of my dreams and sometimes I can't let go of them, and I have to figure out what to do. I don't get everything I want. I would love the idea that somebody was a big brother to me and would help me. And if they're not, that cannot keep me from my dream. And these things can't own me. And so, they can go at risk and they have.”

“Horizon” centers on a group of pioneers — played by Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington and Luke Wilson — as they battle for life in the American West.

Kevin believes his movie, among so many other choices, is worth seeing, saying, “I have a thing that I think is different. I have a thing worth getting out of the summer heat and getting in the dark and taking a ride.”

“I'm in love with language of the West,” he added. “I'm kind of in love with Shakespeare. And that's our Shakespeare.”

Costner has one dream that he couldn’t make happen, getting Princess Diana to star in the sequel for “The Bodyguard.”

“That would’ve been the perfect movie,” Kevin dished. “I found a way for when Princess Di was maybe gonna do it… It would be amazing and how she fit in there... It was unbelievable.”

Unfortunately, Princess Diana tragically died before the movie could go into production.

If he were to make a sequel, Kevin said that his character Frank Farmer would be protecting a “highly unusual person.” He explained, “He didn't like to do celebrities.”

In the original, Frank was the bodyguard of fictional high-profile singer Rachel Marron, played by the late Whitney Houston.

Kevin emphasized, “He did Whitney's character unwittingly. Doesn't like it. He likes Secret Service work.”