'Yellowstone' Star Kevin Costner Will Reportedly Return for Season 5 Under One Condition

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For Yellowstone fans, the Dutton family’s story is far from over. But Kevin Costner may or may not have other plans.

In February, a month after the drama’s season 5 midseason finale aired on Paramount Network, Deadline reported that co-creator and showrunner Taylor Sheridan had decided to conclude the show when it returns later this year. According to the outlet, the rumored decision was made after Kevin requested to only “spend a week shooting” the remaining six episodes.

Sources told Deadline that Paramount Network “declined” his proposal and were moving on with a new Yellowstone spin-off starring Matthew McConaughey. The publication shared that the actor is “currently in negotiations” and Taylor plans to write the show with Matthew as the lead.

Why is Kevin leaving Yellowstone?

As of right now, there is no official news if Kevin is leaving the Yellowstone cast. On May 5, Deadline confirmed that the series would end with season 5 but it was unknown if he would be back when filming resumes in August. Shortly after, on May 8, Puck News reported that negotiations were happening behind the scenes regarding the actor's future on the show.

Per the outlet, Kevin "won’t commit to returning until he finds out and is comfortable with how his John Dutton character is written out of the franchise." Multiple sources told the site that he wants to avoid being killed off — like Patrick Dempsey's character Derek Shepherd dying in a car crash when the actor left Shonda Rhimes' drama Grey's Anatomy.

In case you’re wondering why Kevin only wanted to spend seven days filming Yellowstone season 5 part 2, it has to do with his upcoming movie, Horizon: An American Saga, which he co-wrote. While he hasn’t shared much about the project he’s directing and starring in, it's currently in post-production, per IMDB. But he's already keeping busy with the production of its sequel, Horizon: An American Saga 2.

Puck News also shared that show executives are still trying to figure out the filming schedule with Kevin. They reportedly "suggested anywhere from 30 days to 45 days of shooting" and heard a counter of "one week to three weeks" from the actor's team.

According to the Deadline, Yellowstone season 5 part 2 is set to premiere in November while an untitled sequel starring Matthew is moving forward with a December debut date. What's more, folks can expect to see familiar faces in the follow-up series. Per the outlet, the actor will be "joined by handful of original Yellowstone cast members."

In short, it doesn’t look like Kevin is leaving Yellowstone … yet. Though he hasn’t spoken out about the rumors, he may have hinted at the changes happening in his career with a recent message on Instagram. "I love reflecting on this long and wild career. Thank you guys for coming along for the ride," he wrote on June 1.

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