Kevin Costner Quotes

It's not about Hollywood, it's always about a good script for me.

All of the good movies are based on how that story was told. And you cannot do it with a bad script, that's for sure, no matter who.

Please, if you're making a movie, start out with a good script, at least! Please!

I think the script is the key. Regardless of how great everybody else is working on a film, if you're working on a script that you don't think is great, you're not gonna be able to make a great film. Whereas if the script is great, then you can.

You have a movie and it proves itself and then certain things happen.

You can dress it up, but it comes down to the fact that a movie is only as good as its script.

The only thing approaching art in a movie is the script.

You set out to tell a good story. You don't do it because there is a deep message involved, because the movie is almost always bad when you do that. Your job No. 1 is for it to be entertaining, and if it's inspiring, that is great, too.

If you do not have a good script, then no matter what the genre is, the film will not be a success.

If the script is not good, the film will not work.

The only thing that works is a good script!

At the end of the day you do have to write a short novel beforehand, called a script, before you can make a movie.

When you're in sync with the director, on the type of movie you want to make, the arc of the characters, how the characters intertwine and interact, plotlines and story, and things like that, it really makes a difference.

Scripts are what matter. If you get the foundations right and then you get the right ingredients on top, you stand a shot... but if you get those foundations wrong, then you absolutely don't stand a shot. It's very rare-almost never-that a good film gets made from a bad screenplay.

It makes a world of difference when you start with an amazing script.

For me, it's always filmmaker and then character and then story. They're all equally important but if you don't have a great filmmaker, you will not have a great film unless you just get lucky.

Obviously, I try to make the films work for an audience. That's the main point of making a film, and in retrospect, one can see that certain films, let's say Leaving Las Vegas, demonstrated its own success.

There are definitely reasons to do certain things, but I like to stick to good director, good actor, good script.

You set out to tell a good story. You don't do it because there is a deep message involved because the movie is almost always bad when you do that.

Reading a script is usually as exciting as reading a boilerplate legal document, so when you read one that makes you feel as if you're seeing the movie, you know it's something different.

There are a lot of good stories out there, but I haven't found too many great scripts.

There are no great scripts - just great films.

You could say that Iron Man was a second-tier character, and it turned out very successfully. I simply think it's down to the movie itself, and whether people enjoy the movie, are involved in the movie, and that it entertains them. From that point of view, the movie has to stand alone.

If you have a script that's not great, if you have a great director, you can make a great movie, but if you have a great script with a director who's not good, never are you going to have a good movie.

The woeful tales of 'Super Mario Bros.' and 'Street Fighter' have taught studios that merely slapping a name to a movie is not enough to bring in the fans of the franchise. Also, the way games now unfold their stories more parallels that of a movie, with characters and plot points actually meaning as much as a high score.