The success of Yellowstone is so massive that it’s hard to compare it to any television drama that came before. This fall, the only cable show beating out Yellowstone—in terms of nightly viewers—is NFL football… and Paramount/CBS is running Yellowstone repeats. Repeats! We haven’t seen any new Yellowstone episodes since January, yet John Dutton and his Montana ranch have never been more powerful.
The success is all the more surprising because the man behind John Dutton—68-year-old actor Kevin Costner—is reportedly the main reason behind the lengthy hiatus. An ongoing feud between Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan is just one reason why the production has been delayed. The other factors include the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Costner’s divorce, the actor’s plans for his own western film franchise (Horizon), and Sheridan’s own strike-while-the-iron’s-hot clip of Paramount+ series, such as Special Ops: Lioness and Lawmen: Bass Reeves.
Outside of all the drama? Yellowstone’s die-hard fans. The fandom is so loyal that they celebrate the cast’s life accomplishments—and even support their various coffee and cookbook endeavors. But the fanbase is still waiting for the end of Season Five, which teased the potential end to the Dutton family drama. At the very least, it will most likely mark the end for John Dutton. Costner reportedly holds major sway over how his character will meet his end, but what happens after that?
Will There Be a Season Six of Yellowstone?
As Paramount already announced, plans for a sixth season have already been scrapped in favor of an untitled sequel series starring Matthew McConaughey. Will this series be something completely different, or a Season Six just by another name? Many cast members have expressed interest in continuing the story, and Paramount was even rumored to be considering bringing back many Yellowstone characters in some capacity. Any and all possibilities still feel very much up in the air.
What About the Spinoffs?
A second season of the Yellowstone prequel, 1923, will go back into production when that the SAG-AFTRA strike reaches an agreement. Aside from the prequel, another sixth-season-adjacent series for Yellowstone may appear in the long-awaited 6666 spinoff, starring Jimmy (Jefferson White) and the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas. Many of Yellowstone’s ranch crew—including Rip (Cole Hauser), Walker (Ryan Bingham), Teeter (Jennifer Landon), and more—were sent down to Texas to solve a cattle issue at the end of Season Five’s midseason finale.
Regardless of how it all shapes out, the goods news is that Yellowstone has become so popular that priority number-one for Paramount is giving fans a proper roadmap forward.