Yellowstone could wrap at the end of this season

Yellowstone could wrap at the end of this season because star Kevin Costner only wants to film for a week in total with fellow Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey slated to replace him in spin-off show

  • Kevin Costner reportedly asked Paramount Network executives to let him spend only one week filming the second half of Yellowstone’s fifth season
  • The 68-year-old actor is directing and starring in his own multipart western epic
  • Paramount executives are said to have refused Costner’s demands, and are instead moving forward with a spin-off series starring Matthew McConaughey 

Hit television show Yellowstone may come to an abrupt end at the end of its current season, as star Kevin Costner seeks to limit his time filming.

Deadline reports that the 68-year-old actor had asked Paramount Network executives to let him spend only one week filming the second half of the fifth season as he works on his own passion project.

Costner, who just recently won a Golden Globe for his performance as John Dutton on the show, is now directing and starring in his own multipart western epic, Horizon, which he co-wrote with Jon Baird. It has been picked up by Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinemas. 

But, unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations said, network executives have declined his offer — and are instead moving forward with a new spin-off series starring Matthew McConaughey.

The True Detective star is said to be already in negotiations with the network for a new show that would air on Paramount Network and stream exclusively on Paramount+. 

Kevin Costner, 68, reportedly asked Paramount Network executives to let him film the second half of the current Yellowstone season in only one week

Network executives are now said to be moving forward with a new series starring Matthew McConaughey (pictured in 2018)

Sources familiar with the negotiations say Costner had already limited himself to 65 days of shooting on Yellowstone, then wanted to shoot for only 50 days for the first half of its current season.

But for the second half of the fifth season, sources told Deadline, Costner only wanted to spend a week filming.

As he stars in the show as John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton clan, the proposal frustrated show creator Taylor Sheridan and is said to be causing morale problems among other cast members, which includes Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille and Gil Birmingham.

Network executives decided to refuse Costner’s demands, sources said, and instead made the decision to move on with a spin-off show starring Matthew McConaughey.

Costner’s show may now end with the second half of its current season, which aired its eighth episode in early January, and is set to return in the summer. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for Paramount Network would neither confirm nor deny the news, only saying: ‘Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a longtime to come.

‘Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise extensions of this incredible world he has built.’

The spokesperson added: ‘Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent, with whom we’d love to partner.’

Costner plays John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton clan, in the hit television show

His proposal to film the second half of the fifth season is said to have caused low morale amongst the rest of the cast. Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Kevin Costner, Taylor Sheridan, Kelsey Asbille and Dave Annable are pictured here at the premiere of Yellowstone in June 2018

Yellowstone has been a boon for the cable news network and its streaming platform.

As Deadline reports, the success of prequel series’ 1883 and 1923, as well as expectations for upcoming shows has made the studio less dependent on the hit series as it was just two years ago.

1883, which starred country music stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott premiered in December 2021, and told the story of how the Duttons came to own the sprawling Montana-based Dutton Ranch.

It was followed the next year by 1923, which stars Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. The show is set to return for a second and final season, chronicling the family’s problems during Western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.

Sheridan is also said to be planning two other limited series documenting the family’s struggles to hold onto the ranch in the 1940s and 1960s.

Showrunner Taylor Sheridan (left) was said to also have been irked by Costner’s proposal. The two are pictured here with Costner’s co-star, Reilly

Sheridan has expanded upon the world of Yellowstone with prequel series 1883 and 1923. The television showrunner is pictured here in December 2021 with musician Tim McGraw, who starred in 1883

Meanwhile, Costner is working on his own project, starring Luke Wilson, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington and Jamie Campbell Bower.

Horizon will take place over a 15-year period of, ‘pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American west.’

It will be told through the perspectives of several different characters, following a number of factors in their journey including the ‘onslaught of natural elements’ and their interactions with Native American characters.

 The project will also showcase, ‘determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it.’

The film will mark Costner’s first directorial effort in nearly 20 years, since the 2003 Western Open Range, which he also starred in with Robert Duvall and Annette Bening.

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