Yellowstone may be a huge crowd-pleaser, but it looks like the end could be coming for the Kevin Costner-led Paramount+ series. A new report by Deadline has revealed that showrunner Taylor Sheridan, Paramount Global and Paramount Network are set to dramatically end the series as it currently is, with a “franchise extension” potentially taking its place featuring Matthew McConaughey in the lead.
According to the report, issues with Costner over the shooting schedule for Yellowstone has instigated the change, with the idea to move some of the current Yellowstone cast over to the new series. The report states that having originally agreed to a 65 days of shooting on the series, Kostner rallied against this for the current season, wanting to only work on the show for 50 days for the first part and just a further seven days for the second half of the season. This has allegedly caused issues with both Sheridan and other cast members. A Paramount Network spokesperson said:
“We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
The Yellowstone Franchise is Already Expanding Rapidly.
While there has seemingly been no confirmation yet on the fate of Yellowstone, Deadline’s report continues to note that there is a strong belief that the current fifth season of the show will be the end of the series. However, even if the flagship show does come to its conclusion, there are many other branches of the Yellowstone franchise delivering a huge extended universe.
In December 2021, 1883 premiered with Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott heading up the cast in a prequel series charting the acquisition of the land that would later become Yellowstone by the Dutton dynasty. A year later, 1923 arrived to move the story forward to another generation, this time with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren leading the story. A second season of 1923 will complete another chapter of the saga, but it is believed that there are two new limited series in development that will focus on Yellowstone in the 1940s and 1960s.
For Taylor Sheridan, the next few years are clearly going to be a very busy time as along with these directly linked Yellowstone projects, a number of spin-offs are also in various stages of development, including the David Oyelowo starring Bass Reeves about the first Black deputy U.S. marshal around the time of 1883 and one centered on the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas, which was a setting in season 4. Outside of his Yellowstone universe, Sheridan also has a hand in Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King series, the Jeremy Renner-starring Mayor of Kingstown.
With season 5 of Yellowstone currently airing its latest episodes now, it will likely not be long before we find out if the fate of the series is indeed sealed, or whether the reported issues with Kostner can be amicably resolved before the show finds itself coming to a swift and unexpected end.