Ahead of holiday season, Kevin Costner returns to TV with a new ABC Christmas special
You might've seen him as Treasury Agent Eliot Ness in Brian De Palma's 'The Untouchables', or as Lt. John Dunbar in the epic 'Dances With Wolves'. More recently, you've loved him as the rock-solid Dutton family patriarch in Taylor Sheridan's 'Yellowstone', but you're yet to see him in the most anticipated Christmas special to air this holiday season! Kevin Costner's absence from television has been noticeably felt since his rather haphazard exit from 'Yellowstone'. However, the Academy Award winner intends to make up for his absence this holiday season by bringing forth 'Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas' on ABC.
ScreenRant reported that the ABC Christmas Special will air on the network on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 8 pm ET. The two-hour-long special feature will shed light on the story of the very first Christmas—one that is narrated from the point of view of Mary and Joseph and will chronicle their act of welcoming baby Jesus to the world. Combining fresh contextual references with arresting imagery, the Christmas special is poised to make this holiday season a memorable one.
Costner was in attendance at the red carpet of Art of Elysium's 2025 Heaven Gala, held at the Rosewood Miramar located in Montecito, California, on November 11 this year. During the course of the charity event, Costner opened up to People magazine about the upcoming Christmas special on ABC, "It's a story I think we all think we know, I think maybe some of us know a lot, maybe you know just a little, maybe you're a believer, maybe you're a cynic or maybe—hopefully—you're just curious to find out the real story that's behind the tradition."
Costner was raised a Baptist, and has been quite vocal about his religious inclinations in the past. Speaking to The Christian Post while promoting his passion project 'Horizon: An American Saga', the seventy-year-old actor-director expressed that religion has always played a major role in his life, and he does not mind his religious influences informing his creative work. Despite being an actor and staying away from home during filming, the father of seven children repeated the importance of staying close to one's family through the festivities, "You actually hope that you're home. I have a professional life that sometimes takes me away, but I have rarely been. So, the familiarity with what we do is comforting."
ABC has decided to roll out a premium selection of holiday specials, with shows like 'Abbott Elementary', 'Celebrity Family Feud', 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Shark Tank', 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune', 'Shifting Gears', and 'What Would You Do?: Holiday Edition' airing Christmas special episodes. The mirth and laughter would be taken up a notch further by the airing of perennial holiday movies such as 'Home Alone', 'The Santa Clause', and 'The Sound of Music'.
