While many new fans are tuning in to watch “Yellowstone” repeats on CBS, viewers who have kept up with the hit show in its initial airings on the Paramount Network and streaming platforms have been wondering just when the second half of the fifth and final season is coming.
As with much of show business, production on “Yellowstone” has been impacted by the two strikes — by writers and actors — that forced a halt in making new episodes. Adding to the “Yellowstone” drama is the offscreen controversy surrounding star Kevin Costner and co-creator Taylor Sheridan.
Reports have indicated that disagreements over scheduling and other matters created conflicts between Costner and Sheridan, which have left many questions swirling about how “Yellowstone” will end, and what the fate of Costner’s John Dutton character — the patriarch and head of the show’s ranching empire — may be.
While we don’t know just how this will all get sorted out, the good news is the writers’ strike has been settled, and the ac tors’ strike is apparently over, as well. That means production can resume.
And Paramount recently announced a return date for “Yellowstone.” As The Hollywood Reporter and other sources have reported, the second half of the fifth and final season is set to return to Paramount Network and streaming platforms in November of 2024.
And though “Yellowstone” is headed to the barn, more spinoffs are in the works. Already, fans have been able to watch earlier adventures involving members of the Dutton family in the Paramount Plus streaming series “1883″ and “1923.”
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the new spinoffs include a series set in the present day with the working title of “2024,” and, following in the prequel footsteps of “1883″ and “1923,” a series that will be called “1944.”
It’s been reported that Matthew McConaughey may star in the contemporary spinoff, which is expected to continue telling the story of the Dutton clan.
As Deadline reports, Chris McCarthy, president/CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, said, “Within five years, we grew Yellowstone from a hit U.S. cable show with five million viewers into a global hit franchise with over 100 million fans around the world and multiple extensions – and, we’re just getting started.”
McCarthy continued, “On the heels of 1883 and 1923′s success, our new planned spinoffs, 1944 and 2024, will take audiences on a thrilling, new and unexpected journey with the complex and compelling storytelling that has become a hallmark of the franchise and has helped turn it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon – thanks to the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.”