‘Yellowstone’ Is Dead (After Season 5), Long Live ‘Yellowstone’

Jon Blistein
·2 min read
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YS_UNIT_504_080122_00145_R-9c93af137002a0a1 - Credit: Courtesy of Paramount
YS_UNIT_504_080122_00145_R-9c93af137002a0a1 - Credit: Courtesy of Paramount

Yellowstone, the smash TV western adored by parents and old souls alike, will end after the upcoming second half of its fifth season — but Paramount is wasting no time in prepping a sequel series to take its place.

There aren’t a ton of concrete details about the sequel, though it’ll continue to center around the Dutton family and their ranching exploits, “picking up where Yellowstone leaves off,” according to David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, which produces the show. A cast for the show will be announced soon, though several characters from Yellowstone are expected to feature. It’s also been widely rumored that Matthew McConaughey is in talks to star.

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As it stands, the Yellowstone sequel will premiere in December, just about a month after the final season of the original show starts airing in November. The ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, however, could alter those plans depending on how long it lasts.

While Yellowstone has enjoyed massive success since it debuted in 2018, there have been rumblings in recent months that the flagship series was facing an uncertain future. The major issue reportedly involved scheduling conflicts with star Kevin Costner, who’s been eager to focus on directing and starring in his own epic Western film project, Horizon.

Earlier this week, ET reported that Costner would not return to Yellowstone after its fifth season. While now there won’t even be anything beyond a fifth season, Yellowstone still needs to find time to finish production on its remaining episodes. (Though Yellowstone can go ahead with filming during the WGA strike, no writers will be on set, which could potentially alter the quality of the show.)

The willingness to ditch the main Yellowstone series and move ahead with a sequel is no surprise considering how vast the extended Yellowstone universe has gotten: The show has already spun-off two historical prequel series, 1883 (which starred Tim McGraw and Faith Hill) and 1923 (starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford). A third, 1944, is reportedly in development, and 1883 even got its own spinoff, Bass Reaves. Another planned spin-off, 6666, set in the present day and centered around the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas, is supposed to premiere this year as well.

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