There have been a lot of rumors swirling lately around Yellowstone, the Paramount Network’s hit show about a Montana ranching family. Specifically, word is that star Kevin Costner, who plays family patriarch John Dutton, is no longer willing to commit to spending more than a week on set to film a new cache of episodes. Rather than effectively continue the show without its biggest star, rumor has it that showrunner Taylor Sheridan may instead bring the series to an end after the upcoming second half of season 5 and then focus on the growing number of spinoffs, including a new one that may star Matthew McConaughey.
Paramount offered a half-hearted rebuttal of these claims, although it stopped short of outright denying them. “We have no news to report,” reads a statement. “Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come.”
Costner’s lawyer was more explicit about the whole thing being nonsense (at least the part about Costner not being willing to work hard). Still, uncertainty reigns.
Wes Bentley: Paramount is still “working things out with everyone” for Yellowstone
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, star Wes Bentley (who plays adopted Dutton son Jamie) hoped for the best, but he was no more willing to commit to anything than Paramount. “The news that’s come out recently about the show is, you know, it’s above my pay grade,” he said. “Different people making decisions.”
I know that they’re still working on… working things out with everyone, to make sure we shoot. And I’m confident we will. We always have before. I think it’s probably a bit of drama over nothing.
Here’s hoping.
Wes Bentley is “confident” that Yellowstone will continue
At the moment, Bentley would rather focus on what he knows is coming, including the further development of Jamie’s relationship with Beth (Kelly Reilly). “We’ve got something coming,” he said. “We’re both threatening each other now in some serious ways. It’s a mystery to me too where it’s going. I just know this is an inflection point…. Something major will come of this moment between Jamie and Beth. This is kind of the final straw. He didn’t [know] how much Beth was really fed up with him until really recently, and I think that is now flipped a switch in Jamie that he feels similarly.”
I wait for that next script and within the same kind of anticipation or fans do for the next episode to be aired because, you know, Taylor [Sheridan] surprises us so much. And I’m so interested in everyone. I’m so invested in more than just Jamie. I’m invested in the whole thing now. We all talk about it on set, you know, all the possibilities. We do our own fanfiction.”
The second half of Yellowstone season 5 will air on the Paramount Network later this year. What happens after that…well, we’ll have to watch and wait.
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