The filming of the second part of Paramount Network’s Western series ‘Yellowstone’ season 5 is slated to begin in Darby, Montana, and Park City, Utah, in April 2024. The long-running show is set to conclude with the second-part episodes of the fifth round.
The fifth season of the show premiered on November 13, 2022. The first part ends with John Dutton III facing his potential impeachment. Beth Dutton wages a war against her brother Jamie Dutton for turning against John. Beth’s husband Rip Wheeler and a group of cowboys take John’s cattle to Texas as they deal with an illness that kills the animals at the ranch. Kayce Dutton decides to help his father run the ranch in the absence of Rip.
The second part of the installment may dive into the fate of John’s political career. In addition to saving himself from impeachment, John needs to make sure that he won’t lose the land of his ancestors. Jamie may reconsider his battles against his adoptive father after getting threatened by Beth. Kayce and his wife Monica may continue dealing with the loss of their second child. His decision to move to East Camp may provide the couple much-needed distraction.
Kevin Costner’s involvement in the second part of the season is still not assured. The actor decided to leave the Western series to focus on the production of his passion project, ‘Horizon: An American Saga.’ Taylor Sheridan, the co-creator of the series, hopes to conclude John’s story arc with minor tweaks. “I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter about Costner’s decision. However, he added that he intends to conclude the series as he originally envisioned.
As far as the rest of the returning cast members are concerned, we can expect Luke Grimes (Kayce), Kelly Reilly (Beth), Wes Bentley (Jamie), Cole Hauser (Rip), Kelsey Asbille (Monica), Gil Birmingham (Thomas Rainwater), Brecken Merrill (Tate), etc. to feature in the rest of the series.
Even though six episodes were originally greenlit to form the second part of the season, the viewers can expect more. “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be,” Sheridan added in the THR interview. The ninth episode of the installment was scheduled to come out in November 2024 but the delays caused by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes may force Paramount Network to push the premiere date.
Darby and Park City are significant filming locations of the show’s previous seasons. Chief Joseph Ranch in Darby doubles as the iconic Yellowstone Dutton Ranch in the Western drama. The earlier episodes of the fifth round were also filmed in Richard Cromwell Memorial Rodeo Grounds in the town. Utah Film Studios in Park City previously hosted the production of the series, in addition to other popular projects such as Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’ and Ari Aster’s ‘Hereditary.’