Yellowstone Season 6: What We Know About the Show’s Future Without Kevin Costner
It would seem John Dutton’s long reign will soon reach a dramatic end. According to recent reports, including an exclusive by Entertainment Tonight published on May 3, Yellowstone star Kevin Costner will not return to the series after season 5. The actor’s final chapter on the supremely popular western series has already aired the first half of its full-season run, but the remaining episodes have yet to be filmed, reportedly—at least in part—thanks to tensions between Costner and showrunner Taylor Sheridan.
According to ET, the cast and crew still have “no update” on when the series will return to Montana to finish shooting the remainder of season 5. In February 2023, Puck News reporter Matthew Belloni—who himself was one of the first to break the news of drama between Costner and Sheridan—told the outlet, “Yellowstone is really in limbo right now until they can figure out whether Costner is coming back or, more likely, whether he’s going to be written out of the show. Once that determination is made, they can finish writing the second half of this season, shoot it, and it will likely air in the fall.”
As such, Costner’s exit has enormous implications for remaining Yellowstone storylines, including those for a hypothetical season 6. Here’s everything we know about the show’s future so far.
Will there be a Yellowstone season 6? Is there a release date?
The end of Costner’s run on Yellowstone will not mean the end of Yellowstone altogether. The show is a ratings behemoth, having helped Sheridan craft not just an individual hit but an entire franchise around his own name. That said, it is possible, even likely, that the flagship series will officially end with season 5 and instead branch off into spin-offs, such as the previously announced Yellowstone “franchise extension” featuring Matthew McConaughey as star. (This spin-off is currently in production and was earlier announced to be moving “forward regardless of whether Costner returns to the original,” per The Hollywood Reporter.) It is also possible McConaughey would anchor both the spin-off and a potential season 6 of the original series.
With all this drama circling the show, an official announcement regarding season 6—let alone an official release date—is still forthcoming.
Who will replace Kevin Costner on Yellowstone?
It is unlikely Costner will be officially replaced, in the sense that no other actor will step into the role of John Dutton III. But, as Deadline reported in February, the franchise’s “extension” will instead be led by McConaughey in an as-yet-undisclosed role.
Who else will be in the cast?
If season 5 does indeed spell the end of the original Yellowstone series, that doesn’t necessarily mean beloved Yellowstone characters will disappear from screens altogether. As Deadline initially reported, “It is unclear which of the Yellowstone cast will move over to the McConaughey-led series, but it is expected to include several of the big stars.” That means actors including Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, and Wes Bentley might appear not in a season 6 but in the franchise spin-off.
When will season 5 finish airing?
There are no updates just yet on when season 5 will air, and when Yellowstone as fans know it will end forever. Now that Costner’s exit is everything but official, the cast and crew will likely plan to finish filming this summer so that episodes can air this fall.
This story will be updated.
Culture Writer
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.