The Yellowstone drama has been a serious part of the modern popular culture that has filtered out of the lives of the cast, crew, and director and into that of the audience. For more than a year now, Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan have nipped at each otherʼs heels trying to resolve the issue via compromise, but while misconceptions have muddied the water for the viewers, the relationship between the showʼs director and his lead remains very much the same.
For the better part of the past year, the extensive commitment that Sheridan has granted toward the creation of separate shows for Paramount Network has led to a chasm between the Yellowstone scribe and Costner. Sheridanʼs inability to stick to his promised timeline and finish filming the series finale made the actor back out of the deal to fulfill his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga.
Kevin Costner Clears Up Some Serious Misconceptions
Although Kevin Costner is no stranger to the inner workings of a studio system and the politics that guide the creative process of scribes and filmmakers, it is still surprising when a well-established and in-demand actor becomes the victim of such bureaucratic behavior. After already extending his commitment from 1 season to 3 and then 7, Costner tied himself up for the foreseeable future.
However, his commitment and goodwill were not comparable to the needs of a studio system that operated on profit and demand rather than creative outflow. Taylor Sheridanʼs larger-than-life imagination soon gave way to 5 other projects running almost parallel to each other on Paramount Network, each starring a larger-than-life actor or actress in its lead.
In the meanwhile, rumors and allegations regarding the fallout between Taylor Sheridan and Kevin Costner floated the air, forcing Costner to step up to the occasion and address the growing concern of the masses. As such, his attorney Marty Singer released a statement to Puck claiming, “The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie. It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second.”
Taylor Sheridan x Kevin Costner Drama Seems to Slow Down
While Taylor Sheridan kept himself busy writing the scripts of Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, 1923, and Special Ops: Lioness, starring such actors as Sylvester Stallone, Jeremy Renner, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Zoe Saldaña, and Nicole Kidman, elsewhere Kevin Costner, the first and original A-list actor to invest his faith and time on Sheridan was abandoned on the sidelines.
As Costner waited for Sheridan to unclog his jammed schedule and return to finish the finale of his Yellowstone story, the timeline kept shifting farther than what was promised before. This led to Costner leaving Yellowstone indefinitely to film Horizon: An American Saga which further led to rumors of their falling out.
However, with time, and due to Costner himself clearing up the allegations, the raging debate about the fate of Yellowstone has quieted down despite Season 5B having no slated date of release.
Yellowstone is available for streaming on Paramount+