YELLOWSTONE creators have planned how to handle Kevin Costner’s character’s storyline should he not return as John Dutton in the show’s final episodes.
Recently, there’s been speculation that Costner, 69, might return for the second half of Season Five which would cause rewrites to already established storylines.
Part One of the series’ fifth – and final season – concluded in January 2023 with the second half of the season originally scheduled to premiere later the same year.
However, production was delayed amid reports of tension between Costner and Yellowstone co-creator, Taylor Sheridan, 53, over the production schedule as the Bill Durham star was set to shoot his own western epic, Horizon: An American Saga.
“They’ve internally discussed going a couple different ways with the storyline if Kevin doesn’t return,” an insider revealed to Us Weekly.
The source mentioned that Sheridan might “incorporate a big event to explain the disappearance” of Costner’s character, John Dutton, such as “a calculative move to protect his family from an enemy.”
The final episodes will “focus more on the children and ranch hands and their relationships, conflicts, and alliances,” if the JFK actor decides not to return the insider revealed.
That may not be the case, however, as just last month, Puck reported that Costner has been informing people that he would be returning to the Paramount Network Original – even if only for a cameo.
The entertainment outlet also revealed that as of March 24, the Dutton family patriarch has not been written into the show’s final episodes.
“Even if Costner significantly lowers his financial and time commitment demands, Sheridan may not want to bother reopening his finished scripts to accommodate a send-off for John Dutton,” Puck reported.
“But the Yellowstone fans would certainly love it, which Costner knows and hopes to leverage, as he always does,” the Puck insider continued.
EXIT EXPLAINED
Costner famously portrayed the role of John Dutton in Yellowstone.
Despite the show’s massive success, it was announced in May 2023 that he would be leaving the franchise.
On May 3, 2023, Entertainment Tonight broke the news that Costner would not be returning to Yellowstone.
The news came amid rumors of alleged drama between the star and Sheridan.
Not much is known about the alleged feud but ET reported that it seemed from the actor’s filming commitments.
“I’m disappointed,” Sheridan said of Costner’s decision in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it,” he added, hinting that John Dutton wasn’t meant to be on the show for the entire series.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan continued.
“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.
Sheridan added, “But 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 took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it, he mentioned.
The Hell or High Water writer continued, “His movie 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.”
Costner joined the cast of Yellowstone when the show first premiered in 2018.
He starred in the series all of its five seasons and was seen in almost 50 episodes.
‘JUST GETTING STARTED’
Last year, the Paramount Network announced two new spinoffs for a popular drama, despite the other show not yet ending.
Yellowstone fans are going to have to wait until the end of 2024 to find out how the Dutton family’s story ends.
In the series, the Duttons run the largest cattle ranch in the United States of America, set in Montana.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Part Two of the final season of the drama will air in November 2024.
Season five was split into two parts with the first eight episodes airing from November 2022 to January 2023.
Yellowstone won’t have to say goodbye for long, as two new spinoff series were confirmed.
The spinoffs will be titled 2024 and 1944, a present-day story and a prequel series.
The new Yellowstone stories follow the footsteps of the previous spin-offs, 1883 and 1923.
Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, told THR that as far as spinoffs go, they are “just getting started.”