Kevin Costner will be putting his significant pull and resources, as well as his voice into a new Internet-based animated series called “The Explorers Club,” according to Variety. He will play an adventurer named Sloane.
The online feature will be ready for the upcoming end-of-year holiday season and will be issued in 12 four-minute episodes.
The stories will center around a group of Victorian-era explorers and thrill-seekers who travel to the remotest parts of the Earth in a rousing tale of great adventures reminiscent of those great early pioneers of exploration like Marco Polo, Admiral Perry and others. The series was created and written by Chris and John Baird and Keith Quinn with webisode “A Passage to Shambhala” to air first.
Costner will help to finance the project with an eye to turning it into a live-action big screen feature (which he plans to direct as well as star) sometime later.
“Each episode is clever and visual, it works as a series, and it has massive potential for the bigscreen,” Costner told Variety’s Michael Fleming. “Distribution channels have grown, and as a filmmaker, I was excited by the opportunities to draw an audience into a story in a new way.”
After the huge success of Costner’s “Mr. Brooks,” the actor/director is ready to branch out and spread his influential wings a bit. This will be Kevin’s first online launch of a series.
[Photo courtesy of Rex Features]
It seems like Costner has not been around for awhile. It will be interesting to see how his net project goes. Compared to other Hollywood stars he really keeps a low profile and for that he can be truly respected.