You might have heard there’s some drama going on with Yellowstone, and we’re not just talking about all those bodies dumped at the train station. No, we’re talking drama behind the scenes of the Taylor Sheridan series. The show is a ginormous hit for Paramount, with its season-five premiere pulling in 12.1 million viewers, according to Entertainment Weekly. It’s big enough that it has even spun off multiple shows based on the Dutton fam-iverse in various centuries starring actors like Helen Mirren, Sam Elliott, Harrison Ford, and, on Bass Reeves, David Oyelowo. Given that success, the cast and crew must be a happy bunch o’ fools, right? Not so much. When the cast and creatives failed to show up for their scheduled PaleyFest panel on April 1, 2023, those worries seemed all the more real, and then came the news that the Yellowstoners have been dreading for months — Yellowstone is no more. Production was delayed due to the previous writers’ strike and ongoing actors’ strike. The second part of the show’s fifth (now final) season will finish up in November 2024, but will quickly be replaced by Yellowstone spinoffs. So what’s going on?
A lawsuit may even be on the horizon, with Kevin Costner recently saying he will “probably go to court” over the show. Speaking of Horizon, Costner’s passion project, there’s officially a teaser trailer for this two-part rival cowboy drama. Lots of room for animosity between the show’s star and its creator-writer-maestro, Sheridan. But we don’t trust the Duttons as far as we can throw them, so we’re lassoing up all the info we can find.
First of all — is the biggest hit on TV ending?
It sure is. It was first reported in February 2023 that Costner might be leaving the show after its sixth season while making himself available for only a week of shooting time to the back six episodes of season five (the first batch finished airing on January 2, 2023). Then, Camp Costner fired back. “The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season five of Yellowstone is an absolute lie,” his litigator, Marty Singer, told Puck. “It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second. As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
But now, the show is officially ending. The original rumors might have said he’d leave after the sixth season, but Costner is leaving the Yellowstone-verse even earlier. The current fifth season will air its second part in November and December of this year, then Yellowstone will be over with and a sequel series will appear in its stead. We’re not yet sure how many actors from the original will appear in the sequel, but rumor has it Matthew McConaughey will be added.
Okay, but is Costner leaving?
Yep, he’s done being a Dutton. At the PaleyFest panel, Keith Cox, head of scripted content for MTV Entertainment Studios and one of those who did show, came bearing the kind of good news that counts as good news only when there’s drama. “What I can say is that our star, the face of our show, and our executive producer are very confident he is going to continue with our show,” Cox said. This endorsement from an exec was less confidence-building than an actual appearance by Costner. On May 3, 2023, Entertainment Tonight reported that Costner will not be returning to the show after season five. That means he should be around for the still-unfilmed season 5.2 — if they can figure out a schedule. But when that sequel series comes around, Costner will be nowhere to be found.
Then, in September, Puck reported that, pre-strike, Costner actually wanted to come back in order to wrap up the character. He apparently had a meeting with Sheridan to potentially get on the second part of the fifth season despite Sheridan already having written most of the episodes without Costner’s John Dutton. The talks … did not work out.
Then, suddenly, on April 11, 2024 (yes, that is almost a year since it was reported he would not be returning to the show), Costner was talking about returning again. How would that work? Who can say? “I thought I was going to make seven seasons, but right now we’re at five,” Costner told Entertainment Tonight while promoting Horizon. “So how it works out — I hope it does — but they’ve got a lot of different shows going on. Maybe it will. Maybe this will circle back to me. If it does and I feel really comfortable with it, I’d love to do it.”
Drama? 👀
Drama is right! Costner apparently made a hefty list of demands, including a pay increase, a decrease in shooting time, and the right to approve or potentially veto all of the scripts for the season. Sheridan, who famously writes Yellowstone solo, was not super into that idea (shocker), and conversations spiraled from there, with Paramount walking away as well. Now, Costner is threatening to sue on the grounds that “he was offered a rich package to return” for seasons six and seven and “Paramount is in breach by yanking it.” He also believes Sheridan may be violating the “moral death” clause — an odd stipulation in his contract stating that John Dutton cannot be killed in any way that would “cause shame or embarrassment to John Dutton — and, implicitly, to Costner and his family.” However, Puck additionally heard that Costner hasn’t seen the planned death for John, so as of now, that may be moot.
This is not as shocking as it could be. Costner and Sheridan do not get along, per Puck. The actor had already negotiated short shooting windows for seasons five A and five B. Then he got COVID-19 and couldn’t work but reportedly counted his sick time toward his shooting window — resulting in the Yellowstone cast and crew needing to reassemble for shoots that were both costly to Paramount and annoying to some of his co-stars.
On the home front for Costner, news of his departure from Yellowstone after season five came a day after it broke that his wife of 18 years, Christine, had filed for divorce. “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,” Costner’s rep told ET.
During a child-support hearing on September 1, Costner testified, per People, that he had wanted to return for a sixth season of Yellowstone. However, he claimed negotiations hadn’t worked out because less money was offered and there were creative “issues.” It also looks as if he might sue the show — when asked if he had received payment for the second half of season five, Costner reportedly replied, “I will probably go to court over it.”
Then, in April 2024, while promoting Horizon, Costner gave a quote to ET that was remarkably … submissive? When talking about his hopes for John Dutton’s future, Costner said, “Well, you know, he needs to be proactive in what happens, and I’ve kind of had my own fantasy how it might be,” then adding the all-important note, “but that’s Taylor’s thing. I said as much to him a while back. I had thoughts how it could happen, but we just have to see.”
What does Sheridan have to say about this?
The king of Yellowstone is keeping it generally congenial. “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in a June 21 interview. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone.” Still, he’s willing to acknowledge a bit of beef, even if it doesn’t come from their personal convos. “Once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting,” he said. “He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. [Horizon] seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.” There’s no way to gauge the tone here, but we like to imagine the last sentence was spoken in the style of Regina George.
How does Horizon fit in?
Couldn’t be more relevant! Puck reports that, from Costner’s perspective, the shooting of season five was supposed to be completely finished by 2022, but Sheridan couldn’t deliver the scripts on time (because he was preoccupied with his multitudinous other projects). Costner, meanwhile, wants to focus on his own upcoming film series, Horizon, a Civil War–era drama he is directing, co-writing, producing, and starring in. He has testified that he had already changed his schedule to shoot the first half of Yellowstone’s fifth season. The teaser for Horizon came out on October 5, promising two films within the span of summer 2024. Along with some nature shots and footage of Costner as a cowboy, the teaser reveals that the first Horizon film is scheduled to come out on June 28 and the second on August 16, calling it a “two-part theatrical event.” Alongside Costner, the film will star Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, and Jena Malone. But can anything be more dramatic than what’s going on behind the scenes?
Are there more spinoffs incoming?
Sheridan can’t stop, won’t stop. Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of Viacom, is bullish on his star writer, and the two have ten projects in the pipeline, according to a McCarthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter. That notably includes the Yellowstone “extension” rumored to star McConaughey that McCarthy says is going forward whether or not Costner stays in Yellowstone. Paramount confirmed in November 2023 that it has ordered two Yellowstone spinoffs, currently titled 1944 and 2024. We’ll have to wait and see if McConaughey turns up in either of them. All right, all right, all right, am I right?
When is Yellowstone coming back?
The Duttons will return to terrorize Montana in November 2024.
This post has been updated.
