Hold back your snickers, people. Nothing about this next story is supposed to be funny. Word on the street is that Kevin Costner is in negotiations to star in a new Kazakhstani film. The still untitled picture is an epic, historical drama following the foundation of the Asian state and its numerous altercations with the dreaded Mongols. No, Borat Sagdiyev will not be involved, though acclaimed filmmaker Akan Satayev is. You probably don’t know him, but his newest effort Strayed is getting quite a bit of buzz.

According to The Playlist, no third parties have confirmed Costner’s potentially involvement; so, as of now, it should be treated as nothing more than wishful thinking. When Martin Scorsese lets you know someone is going to be involved in his next film, you write a news story on it. When random Kazakh filmmakers tell you the same, you overtly advise readers to treat the story as a rumor. Not to say I don’t trust Akan Satayev’s reliability, it’s just hard to buy into Kevin Costner flying to Kazakhstan to film a movie without hearing from the actor himself.

No word on when these negotiations might get somewhere, but if this turns out to be true, I promise you Cinema Blend will provide plenty of more coverage.