Kevin Costner Wanted to Make The Bodyguard Sequel With Real-Life Princess

Summary

Kevin Costner planned
Bodyguard
sequel with Princess Diana, but couldn’t replace her after death.
Costner insisted on Whitney Houston for
The Bodyguard
role, and guided her in character development.
Costner suggested Houston sing
“I Will Always Love You
” a cappella.

Kevin Costner has revealed that he once planned to make a sequel to The Bodyguard starring a real-life Princess, Diana, Princess of Wales. During a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM, Costner offered details of his imagined follow-up, revealing that it would have featured Princess Diana, though not as the main romantic lead. Costner even went to far as to meet with Diana, who tragically passed away on 31 August 1997 following a car crash in Paris. The Yellowstone star offered details of their meeting, and revealed why he could no longer pursue The Bodyguard 2 after her death.

“She was very sweet. I wasn’t going to make the full romance about her … but there was going to be a moment…I never made that movie because I could not replace Princess Di.”

Costner continued, detailing how he met with one of Diana’s sons, Prince William, who asked to meet with the actor in Scotland. During the meeting, William revealed that his mother had been quite fond of the actor.

“I sat across from him and he looked at me and he said, ‘My mom fancied you.’ It was the sweetest, gentlest thing.”

Released in 1992 and directed by Mick Jackson from a script written by Lawrence Kasdan, The Bodyguard follows Costner as a former United States Secret Service agent-turned-bodyguard who is hired to protect a famous actress and singer, played by Whitney Houston. While the movie was met with a poor critical reaction, it was a massive success financially, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of the year. A remake has been in the works since 2021, but not much has emerged about the project in the following years.

Kevin Costner Was Determined to Cast Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard & Helped Develop the Hit Song

The Bodyguard

Release Date November 25, 1992

Director Mick Jackson

Runtime 130

Studio Warner Bros. Pictures

Tagline Never let her out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love.

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As well as revealing details of his once-planned sequel, Kevin Costner also offered some insight into the casting of music icon Whitney Houston. While the production felt that Costner’s romantic counterpart could have been played by the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer or Julia Roberts, the actor was determined to star opposite Houston.

“It could have been Michelle Pfeiffer, it could have been Julia Roberts … but when I looked at it, I thought, ‘No, it should be Whitney Houston.’ For me, it was so easy to go, ‘Well this is the most beautiful girl, this is the one who can sing … this is the girl.’

She didn’t really know how to do [her character’s first] line and I said, ‘We have to find the acid in you … the kind of diva moment in you,’” the actor recalled telling her. “I said, ‘If you’re uncertain about things, Whitney, just look at me and tell me and we will drift off into the corner and I’ll make this right for you.’”

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One of the most well-remembered aspects of The Bodyguard remains Houston’s powerful rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” And, it turns out, it was Costner’s idea for her to sing the cover a cappella.

“I said, ‘If she’s going to sing a song, the way she can really show that she really loved me was she would do it without a single note and that would prove how brave she is.’”

Kevin Costner will next helm and lead his passion project, the
Western epic
Horizon: An American Saga

, which is due to debut on Friday, June 28 in theaters. You can check out the latest trailer below.

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