Kevin Costner Reportedly Wants to Approve How He’s Written off ‘Yellowstone’

Kevin Costner reportedly will not return to film the fifth and final season of Yellowstone until he approves how his character, John Dutton, is written off the show.  In a new report from Puck News, Costner is revealed to allegedly be holding out on committing to film Yellowstone Season 5 until he feels “comfortable” with how Dutton’s storyline wraps up.

Insiders told the outlet that Costner “wants to prevent what Shonda Rhimes did to Patrick Dempsey, killing off the race car-driving Grey’s Anatomy star in an F-you car accident. So [Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan] may not be able to dispose of his Western-loving leading man via a kick from an angry horse.” It’s also being reported that Costner’s relationship with Yellowstone‘s production team and Paramount executives has only gotten worse through negotiations, and the star was allegedly not informed ahead of time of the network’s announcement last week that the series would come to an end after Season 5 in November. 

The first half of Yellowstone Season 5 came to an end back in January, with the second half of the season initially set to return in June. However, those debut plans fell apart amid the alleged disagreements between Costner and production over how much time he would need to be in Montana filming the remaining episodes, with Puck News reporting Paramount President and CEO Chris McCarthy and Yellowstone producer David Glasser suggested they need anywhere between 30 to 45 days of shooting, to which Costner’s team countered with their own schedule of one to three weeks. 

The outlet reports that while waiting on Costner’s attorney, Howard Kaplan, “to provide a final answer on what Costner is willing to do,” McCarthy decided to announce the end date for the new episodes, with “the first few of which written with flexibility to allow for various levels of Costner involvement (or non-involvement).”

The drama may have led to the end of Yellowstone as a series, but the western will be followed by an untitled sequel, Paramount announced, which has received a straight-to-series order for a December debut. While no actors have officially been announced for the new series, Matthew McConaughey has reportedly been in talks for the project, and several original Yellowstone cast members are expected to make the jump. The series will air on Paramount Network, the home of Yellowstone, and then will be available to stream on Paramount+.