Yellowstone was created by Taylor Sheridan and, despite mixed reception to its first season, quickly became a rating juggernaut. The Western drama series has become a huge part of the Paramount Network brand, with multi-Academy Award-winning lead actor Kevin Costner serving as the public face of the show for each season.
However, in a shocking move by the Paramount Network and Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone has been canceled, with the upcoming fifth season being its last. After years of playing ranch patriarch John Dutton, it seems that Kevin Costner is willing to leave one of the biggest (and best-paid) jobs on television.
The Paramount Network has been working behind the scenes to ensure that the entire Yellowstone franchise is not entirely dependent on Kevin Costner, expanding the universe of the show into a number of spinoffs. The prequel series 1883, featuring Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Sam Elliott, premiered on the Paramount+ streaming service in 2021, followed by 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.
Two more spinoffs, titled 6666 and 1944, are reportedly in development, but it is clear that none of them will see the return of Kevin Costner as John Dutton. It is heavily rumored that Taylor Sheridan is bringing in Matthew McConaughey essentially as a replacement lead for Costner, but the title of that new entry in the franchise has not been confirmed.
It is not entirely clear why Kevin Costner is leaving the role that gave his latter-day career a massive boost, but there have been rumors of the actor demanding a higher paycheck for season 5 and not wanting to spend basically any time on the Yellowstone set. In part, this seems to be due to work on his upcoming film Horizon: An American Saga, and prioritizing that over the show.
Horizon is described as an epic two-part Western movie about the expansion of the American frontier around the time of the Civil War, which is definitely something that Kevin Costner has a lot of experience in. The film will co-star Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Danny Huston, Luke Wilson, and Jamie Campbell Bower alongside Costner.
However, before he gets to his first directorial effort in years, it appears that Kevin Costner has a different project: coffee. Costner is partnering with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for a signature new coffee, synergistically titled Horizon Blend. According to the roasters themselves, this is “an exciting new collaboration with renowned Academy Award Winner Kevin Costner to craft a series of freshly inspired coffee blends. The first variety, Horizon Blend by Kevin Costner, is a bold and smoky dark roast inspired by the American West and will be available December 2023 on www.Keurig.com/gmcr-costner.”
Many Hollywood actors have gotten into the celebrity alcohol lines in recent years, while even teen stars are positioning themselves as entrepreneurial moguls. While Costner may be a little late to the game, but it sounds like he’s carving out his own niche.