There’s no shortage of tantalising drama on Yellowstone. The smash-hit series has amassed thousands of dedicated cowboy boot-wearing fans and has even been turned into multiple spin-off series and prequels. But it turns out that the behind-the-scenes tea is almost as interesting as the show itself.
For those who don’t know, Yellowstone is a western drama which follows the Dutton family as they run the largest continuous cattle ranch in the United States. The series stars Kevin Costner as the family’s patriarch John Dutton. Since taking to the silver screen for the role, he’s received significant acclaim including a coveted Golden Globe for his portrayal of the brooding rancher.
But here’s the tea.
In February this year, rumours began to circulate that the series creator, Taylor Sheridan, was moving to end the show after Season Five, ditching Costner as the lead and hoping to begin a new series starring Matthew McConaughey to continue the Dutton family’s story.
According to Deadline, this was due to the growing difficulties surrounding Costner’s shooting schedule.
That’s a pretty spicy move when the series basically revolves around Costner’s character.
While a rep for Paramount shut down the rumours that Costner was leaving the series initially, there’s been a new incident causing fans to suspect they’re onto something.
On Saturday evening, Sheridan and the main cast of Yellowstone were expected to attend a panel and special screening of the show at PaleyFest, a TV festival in Los Angeles. But 30 minutes before the red carpet was locked and loaded with fans and journalists, it was revealed that the main cast wouldn’t be making an appearance after all.
The only cast in attendance were Josh Lucas, Wendy Moniz, Moses Brings Plenty and Dawn Olivieri, who were not in the original line up.
Compared to the original list, which featured Sheridan, Costner, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley, Gil Birmingham and Jackie Weaver, fans felt ripped off.
Yeah as someone who paid over $100 a ticket I’m pretty fn pissed. Quite the bait and switch. People are walking out.
— 96KTF (@DebL2021) April 2, 2023
Will there be refunds for #yellowstone #PaleyFest we drove two hours to the cast you said would be here. What a joke and rip off
— james (@james79766926) April 2, 2023
According to Variety, the press was told the cast couldn’t make it due to scheduling conflicts.
You’d think they’d sort that out earlier than half an hour before the event but okay.
While the source from the Deadline report alleged that Costner’s tight scheduling conflicts made him difficult to work with and affected the morale of the cast, the panelists in attendance only had great things to say about working with him.
At the event, Paramount executive Keith Cox tried to dispel the rumours that Costner might be leaving the show but he also revealed that Part Two of Season Five has not started filming nor does it have a start date locked in.
Interesting.
ICYMI, back in February the original rumours kicked off when a source told Deadline that Sheridan wanted to end the series due to disagreements over Costner’s shooting schedules.
Costner allegedly wanted to cut his filming days from 65 to 50 for Season Five, Part One. But only wanted to spend a week shooting Part Two. The source claimed that these demands created a huge strain for Sheridan and the rest of the cast.
While fans began to speculate that Costner was leaving the series, a rep for Paramount denied these claims.“We have no news to report,” the rep said.
“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.”
Last week, ViacomCBS President Chris McCarthy confirmed that McConaughey will be starring in yet another spin-off series. But only time will tell whether he will be replacing Costner in some capacity, or starring in a new whole new story in the Yellowstone universe.
More to come.
