After a lot of behind-the-scenes drama between Kevin Costner, Taylor Sheridan, and Paramount, it was announced that Yellowstone would be coming to an end with Season 5. However, the story will continue with a new series that will be led by Matthew McConaughey.
According to Costner, had things played out a little more smoothly, the Yellowstone series would have continued with a sixth and seventh season. In fact, Costner was in negotiations for these two additional seasons, and then everything fell apart.
According to Deadline, Costner revealed these details during testimony in his ongoing divorce case last week when he was asked by estranged wife Christine Baumgartner’s counsel if he had been offered Season 6 of Yellowstone.
Costner responded and explained that there were negotiations for further seasons of Yellowstone and that he had been offered $24 million to do Seasons 5, 6 and 7. But, he went on to explain that there were “issues about creative” and that his talks with Sheridan and the series’ producers were him trying to “break the logjam.” He then clarified that it was the producer, not him, who walked away from the table. Costner also indicated that he will “probably go to court” over his departure from the series.
It was previously reported that Costner was more interested in focusing on his epic two-part Western feature film Horizon, which had a big impact on his availability to shoot Yellowstone. But, it seems like he still wanted to very much be a part of Yellowstone. I guess the producers didn’t want to work around his schedule.
Costner did elaborate on the scheduling issues for Yellowstone that had been cited as an issue in terms of his disagreements with producers, saying: “Somewhere along the line, they wanted to change things. They wanted to do 5A and 5B; [it] affected Horizon. I was going to do my movie Horizon and leave that show, do my movie, then do B. A show I was only doing once a year I was now doing twice.”
While Costner’s exit does alter the overall plans for Yellowstone and particularly his character, Sheridan previously said that it doesn’t actually change John Dutton’s ending, it just truncates it. While talking about Costner’s departure, he said: “I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it. I don’t do f-ck you car crashes. Whether [Dutton’s] fate inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”
Sheridan went on to say of Costner: “My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn’t altered. 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. But once lawyers get involved, then people don’t get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren’t true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don’t know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
It’s a shame that Sheridan and the producers weren’t able to work things out with Costner. I sure would’ve like to see Yellowstone continue with him for a couple more seasons.
