“I’m so focused on finishing Yellowstone the way it needs to be finished right now – well, just the show itself,” Hauser, 49, told Country Living in an interview published on Sunday, April 28. “We’ll see where that leads, but I know that there’s some stuff on the horizon when it comes to [cocreator] Taylor’s ideas for Kelly Reilly and myself and some of the other cast. I’m excited to see where he goes creatively with that but right now it’s just, let’s finish strong; let’s do the best we can.”
Hauser then responded with “God-willing – your lips to God’s ears” when asked if fans can expect the second half of the fifth and final season to air this fall.
Alongside Kevin Costner and Reilly, 46, Hauser plays Montana rancher John Dutton on the hit Paramount Network show.
Reilly addressed the rumors in a March interview with Radio Times. “There are discussions, you know,” she said at the time. “Don’t believe everything you read. It’s just nonsense. But we’re gonna, you know, let’s wait and see. I don’t have an answer right now. But we’ll see.”
“I love this character,” she added. “I’ve loved going on this journey with her and it’s given me so much. So returning to something that you know so well in your DNA is great, but it’s also been so good to step away for a minute, do some other films, work with some other people… [then] come back [and] be invigorated to bring something fresh back to it.”
In June, the Paramount Network announced 2024 as the first Yellowstone sequel, per The Hollywood Reporter. This sequel, set in the present day, will unfold after the events of Yellowstone, delving further into the Dutton family legacy with fresh characters while retaining some familiar faces. Additionally, the network disclosed plans for another prequel series titled 1944, following the path set by limited series 1883 and the second season of 1923.
In February, Puck reported that Reilly, Hauser and Luke Grimes were asking for raises for the potential spinoff.
Although the three actors weren’t originally slated to appear, Puck reported that cocreator Tyler Sheridan changed his tune. According to the outlet, Reilly and Hauser expressed their desire to be listed first on the production’s call sheet, even ahead of rumored star Matthew McConaughey.
Yellowstone’s future has been up in the air since 2023 after reports emerged that Costner, 69, sought to depart from the show amid arguments with Sheridan, 53. Sheridan later said that Costner’s desire to step away stemmed from his intention to focus on his forthcoming two-part film, Horizon: An American Saga.
“My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023. “His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I’ve never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn’t work out on the phone.”