The future of Yellowstone might have just taken a surprising turn.
Taylor Sheridan’s hit series is currently set to draw to a premature close later this year with the second part of season five, following lead actor Kevin Costner’s decision to quit the series.
The reason for this move was originally alleged to be due to scheduling conflicts with Costner’s five-part Western passion project, Horizon – An American Saga, but the actor has since heavily disputed this.
At the time of the initial report revealing Costner’s departure from Yellowstone, it was claimed the series would continue in the form of a new sequel show that would see several cast members return.
However, Variety has claimed that Yellowstone could continue in its current form after all – albeit without Costner.
According to sources, cast members Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are in talks to become the new de facto leads. In the show, Reilly plays Beth Dutton, the daughter of Costner’s Montana landowner John Dutton III, while Hauser plays Beth’s husband, Rip Wheeler.
The Independent has contacted Paramount for comment.
Costner will not appear in the concluding part of Yellowstone’s fifth season, which is set to premiere in November. Earlier this year, he shared his real reason for leaving the series.
The actor, addressing reports claiming he had fallen out with Sheridan over scheduling conflicts caused by the actor’s desire to shoot his Western franchise, claimed that production on the show kept getting pushed back despite the fact he was ready and poised to shoot whenever he was required.
“I did it for five years, and I wanted to work more than once a year,” Costner told the Today Show in June. “We lost an entire year at one point, and I thought, that can’t happen again.”
The actor continued: “It was well over a year. I thought I have to be in a position to make the things.
“Material has to be ready at certain times, and we weren’t able to do that. After five years, I thought, I’m not going to do this. If we can get that, we can do that, and I’ll do it.”
Costner said he “would love to go back” to Yellowstone – but said that it would have the be “under the right circumstances”.
“I’ve supported that thing and I’ve loved it,” he said, adding: “It’s been really important to me. I would love to go back under the right circumstances. I think that’s what all of us want. At this point, for me, it really needs to be the right circumstances.”
Costner previously said he was sad the show’s production team “didn’t stick up for him” when media reports cited him as the reason Yellowstone ended prematurely.