Kevin Costner’s Departure Reportedly Forced ‘Yellowstone’ To End Three Seasons Early

Turns out the end of Yellowstone wasn’t exactly part of the plan. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Taylor Sheridan originally had three more seasons of Yellowstone in the works — but those plans were cut short following a high-profile falling out with the show’s star, Kevin Costner. That means the neo-Western phenomenon that helped redefine cable TV ended a full three years ahead of schedule, and not because Sheridan was ready to wrap things up. The report stated:

This isn’t shocking news for diehard Duttonheads who’ve been following the drama for over a year. Behind the scenes, Sheridan and Costner reportedly clashed over filming schedules and contract terms. Costner, who was simultaneously prepping his own multi-part Western epic Horizon, eventually walked away from the series altogether. That left fans to watch Yellowstone Season 5B without the family’s central figure, John Dutton, who was killed off in unceremonious fashion from the series.

Back in May 2023, Costner even threatened legal action against the network, telling Deadline, “I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons 6 and 7, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six.” Instead, Yellowstone went on hiatus midway through Season 5, only to return nearly a year later with a rewritten finale that served as a full stop on the Dutton family saga. This was a huge shift for a show that, at its peak, was pulling in over 10 million viewers per episode. The Season 4 finale alone proved just how massive the series had become — and how little interest there was in ending it any time soon.