Kevin Costner’s ‘Yellowstone’ Adjacent Project at ABC Moving Forward Without Him

Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone adjacent project is now moving forward at ABC without him. Deadline reports that the untitled national parks drama is still getting a pilot order, but Costner will no longer be involved. 9-1-1: Lone Star executive producer Rashad Raisani will now write the new version.

Costner had co-written the original pilot script for the series and would have executive produced, but ABC passed on that specific iteration. The show is said to be a “soapy” primetime drama revolving around “the tangled, messy lives of the agents who work for the ISB – an elite law-enforcement unit responsible for solving all serious crimes that occur in our country’s 81,000 square miles of protected land.” At this time, no actors appear to be attached and there is no word on when the pilot may begin production.

Notably, Coster is very busy these days with Yellowstone, his hit Paramount Network series which is about to begin production on Season 5. In the show, Costner stars as Dutton family patriarch, John Dutton. His family controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. Additional cast members include Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, and Gil Birmingham.

Yellowstone recently held its Season 4 finale, and the big episode set a massive ratings record. According to Deadline, the finale nabbed 9.3 million total viewers in Live+Same Day. This is up 81% when compared to the Season 3 finale, which brought in 5.2 million viewers. The Season 4 finale also surpassed the previous Live+Same Day viewership of 8 million set by the Yellowstone Season 4 premiere. Notably, the Yellowstone Season 4 finale is the most-watched telecast on cable since The Walking Dead Season 8 premiere on AMC in October 2017, which had 11.4 million viewers. 

“Yellowstone continues to shatter records with more than 11 million viewers tuning in to the season finale, proving we’ve hit a cultural nerve – from the center of the country to each of the coasts – and still have lots of room to grow on linear,” said ViacomCBS Media Networks President and CEO, Chris McCarthy. “Our strategy to franchise Yellowstone into a universe of series to fuel growth for Paramount+ is already exceeding expectations with 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown proving to be two of the top titles.” At this time, there is no official word when Yellowstone Season 5 will premiere.