Yellowstone’s creator Taylor Sheridan, expressed his disappointment with Kevin Costner’s departure from the hit series. However, he assured fans that Costner’s character, John Dutton, will not suffer any negative consequences on screen due to events that have taken place off camera.In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sheridan acknowledged that Costner’s exit would affect the closure of John Dutton’s character arc, but it would not fundamentally change it.
Despite the disappointment, Sheridan is already working on another spinoff within the Yellowstone universe, with Matthew McConaughey leading the way. He believes that this new spinoff has great potential and will find its place alongside the expansive world of Yellowstone.
Kevin Costner’s Reduced Schedule and Future Scenes for John Dutton in Yellowstone
Kevin Costner, who is 68 years old, made the decision to reduce his workdays on Yellowstone in order to focus on his own Western movie series called Horizon, consisting of four parts. In May, Paramount Network confirmed that Yellowstone would come to an end after the second half of season 5, although its release in November depends on the resolution of the ongoing Writers Guild strike. Discussions are still underway to have Costner return and film scenes that would provide closure to John’s storyline, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Despite rumors about potential tensions on set, Taylor Sheridan continues to praise Costner’s contributions to the series.
While planning for the series finale of Yellowstone, Sheridan initially did not intend to keep John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton family, alive. However, as the finale draws nearer, Sheridan has had to make practical decisions. He can assure viewers that John’s character will not meet his end in a dramatic fiery crash.
Yellowstone Spinoffs and Kevin Costner’s Personal Life Developments
In February, Deadline reported that discussions were underway between Paramount Network and Matthew McConaughey regarding his involvement in the series spinoff. Meanwhile, Kevin Costner had expressed his desire to reduce his schedule on Yellowstone in order to work on his project, Horizon.
Subsequently, Paramount Network confirmed that the show would come to an end and announced the development of a spinoff series for the Paramount+ streaming platform. Paramount+ is already the streaming home for various prequel series, such as 1883 and 1923, and is expected to also stream the upcoming 6666 spinoff, currently in the works.
The announcement about the end of the series came shortly after Kevin Costner’s wife, Christine Baumgartner, filed for divorce after 18 years of marriage. In court documents, Christine stated that she did not pressure Costner to leave Yellowstone before their separation. The first four seasons of the series, as well as the first half of season 5, are currently available for streaming on Peacock.
