After leaving the door open for return Yellow stone, Kevin Costner informed fans that he will not reprise his award-winning role as John Dutton. The news comes hours after Paramount announced a November 10 premiere date for the second half of the fifth – and final – season of Taylor Sheridanof Western drama.
Costner, who is in the midst of an ad campaign for Horizon: an American sagathe first of his four epic Western films, informed fans of his decision Thursday on social media.
“I just want to get in touch and let you know that after a long year and a half of work Horizon and doing all the things that are necessary, and thinking about yellow stone, that beloved series that I love, that I know you love. I just realized that I won’t be able to continue season 5B or in the future,” she revealed.
“It was something that really changed me. I loved it and I know you loved it. I just wanted you to know that I’m not coming back,” he concluded, “I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Costner has officially ended the “will he or won’t he” narrative that has been running in the press for over a year. Talking about Today five days ago, he said he would love to return to the series “under the right circumstances.”
Take a look at how we got to this point.
February 2023: Fans surprised by early rumors Costner may not return
Deadline reported that Costner was likely leaving the series due to disagreements over filming schedules. Sources claimed the Oscar winner was prioritizing his Horizon films in the series. (He disputes this, but more on that later.) It was shocking, given Yellow stoneSeason 5 Premiere broke records as well as the midseason finale in January 2023.
“We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part Yellow stone and we hope it stays that way for a long time,” a Paramount Network spokesperson said in a statement.
A Disc News The report described alleged tension between Sheridan and Costner.
April 2023: Yellow stone stars abandon PaleyFest
Rumors of behind-the-scenes problems escalated when the series’ leads canceled a planned appearance in front of media and fans at the last minute. Some of the cast confirmed to Yahoo that the second half of season 5 had not been filmed and scripts were still being worked on. Keith Cox, president of development and production at Paramount Network, told the crowd that he was “very confident” in Costner’s return.
June 2023: Taylor Sheridan breaks silence
Sheridan directed the rumors to the Hollywood reporter: “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had a passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network were discussing when he could finish Yellow stone. I said, ‘Surely we can work out a schedule for [his preferred exit date]’, what have we done.”
Sheridan said he was “disappointed” in Costner’s decision to leave. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t change him, but it truncates him.”
In the same article, sources close to Costner disputed claims that he was the one who delayed filming because there were no scripts. One source claimed that Costner was unfairly portrayed as prioritizing the Horizon films, in which he stars and directs. “How can you schedule something when there are no scripts? [Sheridan’s] doing another eight shows”, said the source.
September 2023: Costner directly addresses rumors for the first time
Costner spoke during a child support hearing amid his contentious divorce from Christine Baumgartner. He wanted to return for another season, but said that couldn’t happen.
“We tried to negotiate, they offered me less money than in previous seasons, there were problems with creativity,” he testified.
Costner was supposed to receive $12 million for each part of Season 5. Before leaving the show, he told his agents: “Ask them to pay me any number, we will come up with a number and they will [Yellowstone] is gone.” He said he will “probably go to court to decide” whether he will receive a payout for the second half of the second season.
April 2024: Costner hints he’s open to a return to the series
“I wish I could do it, but we can’t,” he said Entertainment tonight. “I thought I was going to make seven [seasons] but now we are at five. So how does it work – I hope it works – but they have a lot of different programs going on. Perhaps yes. Maybe it will come back to me. If this happens and I feel very comfortable with [it]I would love to do that.”
May 2024: Costner criticizes the lie Yellow stone narrative
Speaking to the press for the first time since the drama began, Costner said he did not prioritize Horizon about Yellow stone.
“I made a contract for seasons 5, 6 and 7. In February, after negotiating for two or three months, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons 6 and 7, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do 6. They weren’t able to do that. Horizon was placed in the middle, but Yellow stone was the first position. If that [Horizon] in the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps,” he said Deadline.
Costner said he “took a beating from those damn guys and I know many times where that comes from.”
“But if you know me well enough, I did Yellow stone the first priority, and implying anything else would be wrong. I didn’t initiate any of these things. They did,” he declared.
June 2024: Costner says he would like to return before confirming departure
Costner said Today‘s Savannah Guthrie on June 17 he “would love to come back under the right circumstances, I think we all do.” He added: “There’s always a chance.”
“I love the thing,” he declared. “You have to be very clear about this.”
In an interview with People published on June 19, he lifted the lid of his Yellow stone contract.
“When Taylor first introduced me, it was a season and [like] a long film that [is] speaking my language,” Costner explained. He said he happily “stepped ahead” and said he would do it for three seasons. “I ended up doing it for five.”
Coster said he would have continued: “There was a time when that show for me stopped for 14 months. … That’s the fact. I could have done a lot of things in that time, but I didn’t know that [hold-up] was going to happen.”
The actor said he was disappointed that no one came to his defense in the press when rumors surfaced a year earlier. “There came a point when I thought, ‘Wow, when is someone going to say something about what I to have done versus what I I don’t have done?'”
On June 20, Costner directly addressed fans and said definitively that he would not be returning: “I will not be able to continue season 5B or in the future.”
