It seems all it took for Kevin Costner to get back on the Hollywood radar in a big way was to star in this summer's smash hit mini-series "Hatfields & McCoys." Since then, he's joined "Jack Ryan" with Paramount eyeing his character for his own movie in the series, and how the actor is gearing another vehicle as a potential franchise.
Costner has signed on to produce and star in "The Explorers Guild" based on the forthcoming book series he's been putting together that will hit shelves in 2014 with the first title, "The Explorers Guild, Volume One: A Passage To Shambhala." Prouducer/writer Jon Baird ("Filth," "Green Street Hooligans") will help develop the heavily illustrated books in what sounds like something up Costner's epic wheelhouse. Here's how Deadline breaks down what it's all about:
The Explorers Guild is a clandestine group of adventurers who seek out the places where light gives way to shadow, and reason is usurped by myth. The secrets of this unknown world are hidden in mountain ranges and lost in deserts, sunk to the ocean floor and lodged deep beneath polar ice. The aim of The Explorers Guild: to discover the mysteries that lie beyond the boundaries of the known world. The first adventure is set against the backdrop of World War I and revolves around the quest to find the mythic Buddhist city Shambhala. Guild members are looking for different things there: one hopes to save his brother’s life, another looks for spiritual enlightenment and peace; others fear it will bring mankind to the brink of apocalypse. The search includes treks to the Polar North, the Mongolian deserts and underground canals of Asia to the Himalayas.
As you might guess, this one is being aimed at "both a young-adult and mature audience." Costner is still looking for backers on the project that he has apparently been working on for five years already, which he hopes to spin off into other avenues as well including an animated feature. "It feels like one of those billion-dollar babies that sometimes blow up with a high degree of literacy and commercial appeal. We are looking for the right kind of partner who recognizes this," Costner said about "The Explorers Guild," which he enivisions as having the globetrotting appeal of the Bond movies.
We'll see? This all sounds very nice on paper but getting it to the next stage will take a lot of faith and cash. Will anyone be willing to come on board?