Breaking news: Yellowstone is officially cancelled. The show will end after Season 5 and frontrunner Kevin Costner is reportedly slated to exit the series as well. But don’t worry – we’re not saying goodbye to the entire cast just yet.
Our sister publication, Variety, reported on May 5, 2023, that Yellowstone will be ending after Season 5 and there will not be a sixth season of the successful Paramount series. The site also reported that the remaining episodes of Season 5, part 2, are set to be released this November. (Paramount originally said that new episodes will be coming this summer, but it looks like filming delays — which we reported on earlier this month — pushed the timeline back to the fall.)
“Yellowstone has been the cornerstone on which we have launched an entire universe of global hits – from 1883 to Tulsa King, and I am confident our Yellowstone sequel will be another big hit, thanks to the brilliant creative mind of Taylor Sheridan and our incredible casts who bring these shows to life,” said Chris McCarthy, president & CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, in a statement.
We also finally know more about the new Yellowstone sequel series that will replace the show in its current form. The untitled series has been ordered and “will debut on Paramount Network and Paramount+ in December,” according to Variety. Matthew McConaughey is expected to lead the new series, which was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on March 28, 2023, by McCarthy. The plot and casting details of the sequel series are under wraps, but some of the existing Yellowstone cast is expected to move over to the new show. The cast also consists of Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham and more.
“The Dutton story continues, picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale. We are thrilled to bring this new journey to audiences around the world,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, in a statement to Variety As Paramount’s popular Western drama, Yellowstone dominated TV and streaming platforms; it was named the most-watched show on TV for 2022 and the most-watched cable premiere since The Walking Dead in 2017, according to Deadline.
The show follows John Dutton III (Kevin Costner), a widowed, sixth-generation patriarch of the Dutton family, who runs the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and defends it from those seeking control of his family’s land. Creator Taylor Sheridan has two successful Yellowstone prequels, 1883 and 1923, on Paramount Plus, and an upcoming spinoff, 6666, that’s currently in the works.
Starting in February 2023, media outlets began reporting that Kevin Costner may not return to Yellowstone after Season 5. Sources told our sister site Deadline that the issue stemmed from conflicts with Costner’s filming schedule, which allegedly impacted the second batch of episodes in the show’s fifth season. Apparently, Costner “only wanted to spend a week shooting,” an insider told the site at the time.
Meanwhile, Costner’s lawyer, Marty Singer, denied the allegations Puck.News: “The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of Season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie,” he said. Costner is busy directing and starring in the Western “epic” Horizon, a four-part feature film spearheaded by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.
The final six episodes of Season 5 were originally going to air sometime this summer, but sources told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2023 that filming for the second part of Yellowstone was pushed due to drama surrounding Costner’s exit. In April 2023, the Yellowstone cast who attended PaleyFest confirmed that the second half of Season 5 “has not yet started filming and they have not been given a start date,” according to Variety. Costner, Sheridan and other Yellowstone cast members were notably absent from the event after it was previously confirmed that they would be attending.
We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about the new Yellowstone sequel series and when new episodes of Yellowstone Season 5 will be coming this fall. You can watch Yellowstone on the Paramount Network, which is available to stream on services including Fubo TV, Philo TV, and Hulu+ With Live TV. The first four seasons of Yellowstone are also available to stream on Peacock.