Finally! An Update on the ‘Yellowstone’ Sequel Series
Folks, Yellowstone is ending. Last year, Paramount Network confirmed the news in a rare statement given to Deadline—one that also announced an upcoming sequel. Originally rumored as a spinoff much like 1923 and 1883, the (likely) Matthew McConaughey–led project will actually continue the story of Yellowstone, wherever we leave off.
"Yellowstone has been the cornerstone on which we have launched an entire universe of global hits—from 1883 to Tulsa King, and I am confident our Yellowstone sequel will be another big hit, thanks to the brilliant creative mind of Taylor Sheridan and our incredible casts who bring these shows to life," said Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of MTV Entertainment Group/ViacomCBS. Yellowstone executive producer David Glasser added, "The Dutton story continues, picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale."
Many of the current cast members have been informed that there's a place for them in the new series, should they wish to continue on in the franchise. According to Puck, Yellowstone favorites Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, and Luke Grimes, "have ended their standoff and are wrapping up deals to return for the sequel series." McConaughey is allegedly waiting "to be satisfied with the creative direction before signing on," as is Michelle Pfeiffer. A final cast list will be available once creator Taylor Sheridan finishes writing the scripts. "[Sheridan] is in Texas spinning hay into gold and we’re hoping we’ll do it soon," director Stephen Kay told Deadline. "Everybody’s excited."
We know one person who won't return: Kevin Costner. The leading actor's much-rumored feud with Sheridan is likely the number-one cause of all this shuffling. Costner will not return for the upcoming season 5 finale as he promotes his new film franchise, Horizon, but Puck's Matthew Belloni hasn't given up hope. "I still have a feeling Costner will end up in the series finale—the incentives for him, Sheridan, and Paramount are too great—but as of now there’s no plan," Belloni wrote.
Due to dueling egos and problems with filming schedules, Costner and Sheridan's beef put season 5 on hiatus for over a year, but Paramount is hoping to have the lead patriarch return to finish it out for a November release. According to Deadline, the untitled sequel will then receive a quick, straight-to-series order for a December premiere. That's incredibly fast.
As we've theorized before, it's possible that the hope to finish out season 5 with Costner also falls through. Deadline confirmed that it still isn’t clear whether Costner will return for any of Yellowstone's final episodes, which recently went back into production. For a premiere in November, that's a very tight turnaround. January's midseason finale ended on a significant cliff-hanger that is begging for resolution, but there are still more hurdles to jump through. Production has to sort through Costner's reported unwillingness to put time into filming and the lead actor's claims that Sheridan left the cast without a script. Sheridan is also clearly spread thin at Paramount, writing several other series, including Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, 1923, and Bass Reeves. That may spell doom for the Yellowstone cast returning to actually finish out season 5.
The good news? We'll have the sequel series... eventually. John Dutton's kids all trying to kill each other in the midseason finale may just present the best scenario to make some off-screen deaths and move on as fast as Sheridan can. Spending several scenes explaining why characters like Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler are talking to McConaughey now instead of to Costner? It would only confuse audiences and drag a lukewarm season on even further. Just give us Yellowstone 2—and keep the good ol' cowboy vibes rolling.
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