How many Western movies has Kevin Costner made?

Key Takeaways

• The answer to the question is not as easy as it seems
• Costner’s first Western came back in 1985
• His last was scheduled for four parts, but only one has been released

Kevin Costner is one of the most accomplished actors of the last half-century, starring in nearly 70 films of different genres, starting back in 1981 when he played John Logan in an independent film called Sizzle Beach, U.S.A.

So how many Western films has Costner starred in and directed? Easy answer: several.

It’s not that we’re being coy; it just depends on how you want to label some of them. The most easily explained count is five: Silverado (1985), Dances with Wolves (1990), Wyatt Earp (1994), Open Range (2003), and the first Horizon: An American Saga (2024).

So why is there hesitation with the earlier number? Costner also starred in two films that are considered neo-Westerns, blending Western themes and concepts into other genres. That includes The Postman (1997) and Let Him Go (2020).

Of course, there was the Western drama television series Yellowstone, where, starting in 2018, Costner played the legendary John Dutton for four-and-a-half seasons until his character was killed off in Season 5 in a murder that was staged to look like a suicide. (Apologies if you consider that a spoiler, but enough time has passed where it doesn’t count as such!)

Costner’s 11^th film was his first Western, the 1985 classic ensemble Silverado, where he played Jake early in his career. Five years later, he directed, produced, and starred in Dances with Wolves, a Civil War-era film that won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

In 1994, Costner portrayed Wyatt Earp in the biographical Western about the legendary lawman. Nine years later he directed and starred in Open Range, where he was a cattle-herder with a violent past.

His last Western project was released in 2024, where he directed, wrote, produced, and starred in Horizon: An American Saga, which was planned as a four-part Western series that centers on fictional characters and takes place in pre- and post-Civil War America, and details the exploration of the American West. However, the first version was a disappointment at the box office, and the release date of the second part of the series was delayed indefinitely.