Speculation about Yellowstone’s possibly-truncated future began in February 2023 when Deadline reported that Paramount Network was considering ending the show abruptly. Reports cited scheduling conflicts with Kevin Costner, who plays lead character John Dutton, and a general unwillingness to commit past season 5. The outlet also claimed at the time that the network was fine with simply moving forward with a spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey in a lead role, instead of fighting the Costner battle indefinitely.
Since the reports, Paramount has denied all speculation, confirming they expected Costner, 68, to remain a part of the Yellowstone family “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,” a studio spokesperson said of Yellowstone. “Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
Sheridan, the show’s creator and lead writer, has stayed quiet throughout the rumor mill churning. However, he has alluded to ending the show in a specific timeframe, regardless of outside influence.
“There’s only so much hovering one can do before the story starts to lose its locomotion; you can’t put it in neutral just because it’s successful,” the Sons of Anarchy actor told The New York Times in December 2021. “It will go as many years as it takes for me to tell the story, but you’re not going to see nine seasons of it. No way.”
So what have otherYellowstone stars said about the show’s imminent future?
Mo Brings Plenty: “Some local folks asked me about [the exit rumors] and I honestly have no answers. I don’t even know what’s going on, I just stay in my own lane,” the actor said in April 2023. “I have a great deal of respect for Kevin and who he is and what he does and everyone else. And so I just mind my own business.”
Wendy Moniz: “I don’t know. I have no news to report about it. We’re all just, you know, finding out what everyone else is finding out as it’s going and just, I’m excited to get back to work,” Moniz admitted. The actress plays Lynelle Perry in Yellowstone.
Dawn Olivieri: “I hope in my heart I get to work with him before whatever happens, happens. I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Olivieri, who plays Sarah Atwood, told Us in April 2023 at PaleyFest. “We don’t know. But I do hope I get at least one moment to be opposite that great legend of a man.”
Cole Hauser: “I can tell you there will be [season] 6 and [there] will be a 7th, that’s all I can say,” Hauser told Entertainment Tonight in January 2023 (before the Costner rumors began swirling). “That’s all I can tell you.”
Sorry, fellow Yellowstone fans; we’ll just have to wait and see!