The Yellowstone universe is pretty vast, with several spin-off series being birthed from it, and a few more in the works for future release dates. Paramount and Taylor Sheridan hit gold with this series, with online reviews from both viewers and critics highly praising the show, its actors, and the writing.
The Yellowstone universe has some elite Hollywood names tied to it as well including the likes of Helen Mirren, Harrison Ford, Sam Elliot, and Kevin Costner. Costner plays John Dutton, the main patriarch of Yellowstone. While reactions to his character are polarizing, he is easily a huge factor in why people tune in to the show.
Now that he is confirmed to be leaving, and the future of Yellowstone is seemingly up in the air, rumors have started circulating about the reason why Kevin Costner is leaving. However, Costner’s reason for leaving may be less dramatic than most people have assumed it is and is more of an unfortunate scheduling circumstance.
Kevin Costner Is A Huge Fan Favorite
Yellowstone initially premiered in 2018 to a low critic score on Rotten Tomatoes for its first season. Some of the biggest criticisms of the show’s first season included how unlikable some of the characters are, that it reminded viewers too much of a soap opera, and that it was just plain boring and uninteresting to watch.
The audience score was much higher, sitting at an 83%, which seemed to foreshadow what was to come for the Paramount show. Ratings and reviews improved vastly for Yellowstone’s second season, with many praising Taylor Sheridan’s vision, even going so far as to call it the best show on television.
Seasons three through four continue to hold high ratings, up to a 100% critic score and an 87% audience score. Viewers were quick to praise all the actors for their portrayals of their respective characters, and Kevin Costner as John Dutton was no different. Whether they like or hate the character, fans mostly agree that Costner is killing it as the Dutton family patriarch.
It’s understandable that fans are reasonably upset at the idea of Kevin Costner leaving the show, let alone the rumors of him being replaced by Matthew McConaughey, because he is seen as such an integral part of the show as the family patriarchal figurehead.
Creator Taylor Sheridan Is Not Thrilled About His Departure
While Matthew McConaughey is confirmed to be joining the Yellowstone universe in another one of its spin-offs, and Paramount is adamantly excited about the opportunity of working with the True Detective actor, they are still experiencing some growing pains because of Kevin Costner’s seemingly untimely departure from the show.
Taylor Sheridan in particular does not agree with Kevin Costner’s choice to leave Yellowstone, but apparently, he has no control over the situation. Sheridan admits that they worked with Costner as best as they could to accommodate his exit from the show while still closing off his storyline appropriately.
He also clarifies that he doesn’t control the schedule or when things start filming, so there is not a lot he can do to try and change the situation at hand, but they are in talks with Costner to see how they can get him to return and wrap up the show.
Yellowstone’s fifth, and rumored final season, is split into two, with the last half having six episodes to it; however, Taylor Sheridan is very adamant about trying to extend that to 10 episodes to allow time to flush out the rest of the storyline and seems confident that the studio will give him that extra time to do so.
Costner Wants To Work On A Passion Project After Yellowstone
There have been rumors that Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan are feuding, and that is leading to Costner wanting to leave the show. This, according to Sheridan and Costner’s lawyer, is not necessarily the case, and the conflict is related to scheduling.
This is largely due to Kevin Costner working on Horizon: An American Saga, a four-part western-themed epic, which he is very passionate about dedicating his time to. Costner has a huge hand in the films, having credits as the co-writer, producer, director, and star of the projects.
His plan is to shoot all four films back to back, with the first film having already wrapped up filming in late 2022, leaving little time to dedicate to the Yellowstone universe. Fans of Yellowstone did not have the most positive reaction to his decision to focus on his passion project rather than continue on the Paramount show as John Dutton.
Fans remain hopeful that Costner will make an appearance on the second half of Yellowstone, even if his schedule is currently booked up to work on Horizon. Either way, Costner is working on a project that is ultimately going to add to his immense net worth, just like Yellowstone has.