‘Yellowstone’ Could Reportedly End After 5 Seasons

Yellowstone might be hitting the dusty trail. Deadline reports that the immensely popular Paramount Network drama series, starring Kevin Costner as patriarch John Dutton, could end its run after five seasons as series cocreator Taylor Sheridan looks to expand the ever-growing Yellowstone franchise with a new series potentially starring Matthew McConaughey.

The series, which premiered in 2018 on Paramount Network, follows Costner’s John Dutton, who owns and operates his family’s massive Montana ranch. Yellowstone is currently TV’s top-rated drama series, which makes a report of its potential ending all the more surprising. Its season five series premiere, which aired in November of last year, pulled in a whopping 12.1 million live-plus-same-day viewers. In a statement, though, Paramount struck a tone that suggested this might not quite be the end.

“We have no news to report,” a Paramount Network spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “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.”

As of now, it’s unclear which members of the ensemble cast, which includes Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, and Sheridan himself, may potentially join the McConaughey version. Per Deadline, the untimely demise of Yellowstone was brought on by an alleged shooting discrepancy with Costner regarding the number of filming dates. Sources told Deadline that Costner allegedly agreed to shoot only 65 days on Yellowstone originally, and then only wanted 50 days for the first part of the current season. However, for the second half of the fifth season, Costner allegedly only wanted to film for one week. This discrepancy has reportedly led to “morale problems” for the other actors on the series as well as “frustration” for Sheridan.

Even if the flagship Yellowstone series might be coming to an end, Sheridan has multiple offshoot series in the works to keep the franchise alive. A prequel limited series, 1883, starring Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Sam Elliott, premiered in December 2021 and was a hit immediately out of the gate. The prequel details how the Duttons came to own the land that would become the Yellowstone ranch. Another prequel series, 1923, starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, follows the Duttons’ expansion west, the great migration, and prohibition. It premiered in December of 2022 and is set for a second and final season. Per Deadline, two separate limited series set in the 1940s and 1960s are also reportedly in the works.

Despite potentially leaving the Yellowstone universe, Costner is keeping busy by directing and starring in a multi-part Western epic, Horizon, which has ended up at Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line. His Yellowstone days may come to a close as soon as the end of the fifth season, which returns for part two this summer. The rumored new series will reportedly begin on the Paramount Network linear cable channel and then stream exclusively on Paramount+.

Representatives for Costner did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.