‘Yellowstone’ Season Looks Unlikely to Air This Summer amid Reported Production Delays, Kevin Costner Exit

Yellowstone fans may have to wait a bit longer for the conclusion of season 5.

During a panel at PaleyFest on Saturday, Paramount president of development and production Keith Cox steered clear of providing a clear update about when production on the second half of season 5 will resume.

Cox remained optimistic that Kevin Costner, who plays Yellowstone patriarch John Dutton, will be back despite reports he is considering exiting the show. “What I can say is our star, the face of our show and the executive producer, are very confident he’s going to continue with our show,” said Cox.

Yellowstone was expected to return with new episodes in summer 2023, but Paramount and a representative for Costner did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the production status of the show or the 68-year-old Golden Globe winner’s place on it.

The news comes after Costner, series creator Taylor Sheridan and several Yellowstone cast members were noticeably absent from the Paleyfest event on Saturday.

The event — which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood — initially promised that Sheridan, EP David Glasser, Costner, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham and Jacki Weaver would all be part of the panel. However, the final panel lineup ended up consisting of Josh Lucas, Dawn Olivieri, Wendy Moniz and Mo Brings Plenty.

The panel took place following a Deadline report that Matthew McConaughey was in talks to star in a spinoff of the popular Peacock series, as Costner considered an exit to instead focus on directing and starring in the upcoming Western film Horizon.

When asked at PaleyFest if he thinks the show could continue in a world without Costner’s character, Lucas — who plays Costner’s character John Dutton in flashbacks — said that he thinks Sheridan has “always planned on at some point, having Kevin die and having multiple characters die.”

“And so you know that that’s just … the evolution of what the ranch is. That’s why when you see the cemetery and you see the names of Elsa and you see the names of Jacob and you see these names, I think it’s of course going to evolve and change,” explained Lucas, 51. “And I think that’s what hopefully people will really like as it goes.”

Dawn Olivieri, who plays Sarah Atwood on Yellowstone, also opened up to PEOPLE about Costner’s future on the series, sharing, “I’ve already been killed once. I’m coming back to life. It happens to the best of us. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. I hope I get the chance to work with him. I do.”

She added, “But I can’t put money on Taylor writing something that we all hope that happens. If you hope [for] something, you might want to bet that he’ll write the opposite.”

In February, a spokesperson for Paramount Network told PEOPLE that they hoped to have both McConaughey, 53, and Costner be part of the Yellowstone family. “Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone, and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come.”

Since then, McConaughey’s spinoff involvement was revealed to be moving forward by ViacomCBS President Chris McCarthy. That series will be the latest spinoff inspired by the series — preceded by the prequel 1883 starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill; the Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford-led prequel 1923, plus the ominously titled 6666.

McCarthy also told THR that the franchise “wouldn’t be what it is today without Kevin, and we hope that that stays for a long time to come.”