Kevin Costner returns to TV with new ‘stranger than fiction’ Yellowstone series

Kevin Costner will return to TV screens with a brand new series about the Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks.

The actor, who starred in the long-running Paramount Network series Yellowstone, will host a three-part limited series called Yellowstone to Yosemite with Kevin Costner.

“Once in a while, you come across a story that has that truly special mix of elements; it’s stranger than fiction and happens against all odds,” Kevin said in a press release for the new series, which will air on Fox Nation on February 8. “It results in something that legitimately changes the world for the good and, most importantly, it all really happened.”

Kevin will “trace the footsteps of the pivotal 1903 Yosemite expedition of 26th President Teddy Roosevelt and environmental advocate John Muir” spotlighting the highs and lows of preserving the American frontier as he explores the parks and looks at the history that changed America.

“Throughout the voyage, Costner explores the region’s rich Indigenous American legacy, the serendipitous arrival of outsiders in 1850, and how John Muir evolved into a crusader for our wildest places” the release read.

“Through Costner’s perspective, he illuminates the struggle waged by Muir as he contended with the intricate politics of resource management and how Roosevelt’s intervention culminated in the establishment of a more structured National Park System, the creation of 150 National Forests, 5 National Parks, and the preservation and protection of 230 million acres of precious land.”

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In 2022 Yellowstone celebrated its 150th year anniversary. Spanning three states – Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho – the national park is made up of over 2.2 million acres, half the world’s active geysers, 10,000 hydrothermal features and 1,000 miles of hiking trails.

Yosemite, in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, was established in 1906 after the 1903 Yosemite expedition saw President Roosevelt join Muir for a three-night camping trip across Mariposa Grove, Sentinel Dome, Glacier Point, and Yosemite Valley.

© Shutterstock / Framalicious

The trip saw Muir convince Roosevelt to expand the protection of Yosemite and it inspired the President to create five further national parks, 150 national forests, and 18 national monuments.

Kevin has long held a fascination with the American frontier; he starred in the Paramount series Yellowstone for five seasons, and will attend theUS premiere of part two of his Horizon Saga at Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February.

Part two of the Saga was meant to be released in theaters in August 2024 but it was unexpectedly pulled from theatrical release after part one failed to have significant box office impact or impress critics.

Horizon had a budget of $100 million, and was filmed in a Utah set that Kevin plans to expand into a massive, Costner-themed movie filming compound.

He put $38 million of his own money into the first film alone, though it earned only $11 million on opening weekend, and a total of $32 million globally so fa