'Yellowstone': Matthew McConaughey's Spinoff Moving Forward

The behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the Yellowstone franchise just got a tad more interesting. For those behind on the saga, which has been playing out in Hollywood trade publications over the last couple of months, it's unclear how much longer Kevin Costner will be involved in the Yellowstone universe. Deadline reported on Feb. 6 that the main Yellowstone show was likely ending amidst a dispute with Costner. Instead, Paramount was said to start focusing on future spinoffs in the vain of 1883 and 1923. The main Yellowstone successor was reportedly slated to star Matthew McConaughey. 

Paramount initially played coy when asked for a statement about McConaughey's involvement in creator Taylor Sheridan's rumored new show. "Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we'd love to partner," the company said in a statement. The next update came in a Puck report, which mainly alleged scheduling disputes were leading to the tension behind the scenes of Yellowstone. Now, we have a more definitive bit of news, the show is slated to move forward — even if Costner and Sheridan mend fences.

The update comes via The Hollywood Reporter. Writer Lacey Rose interviewed Paramount Media Networks boss Chris McCarthy and reported a brief tidbit about this McConaughey-led project.

"Matthew McConaughey is lined up to star in a Yellowstone extension, which will move forward regardless of whether Costner returns to the original," Rose wrote. "In fact, it's one of more than 10 projects that McCarthy has with creator Taylor Sheridan, whom he lavishly praises for, among other things, his ability to deliver high-quality, mass-appeal programming as others in Hollywood are focused only on the coasts."

There is still no word on what exactly the Dallas Buyers Club and True Detective star will be doing in the world Yellowstone, though. The only other tidbit from the THR piece was that McCarthy said that the show "wouldn't be what it is today without Kevin and we hope that that stays for a long time to come."

Stay tuned for more updates on what's to come for the Yellowstone franchise.