Is Kevin Costner’s ‘Yellowstone’ story ending?

After years of speculating how long "Yellowstone" might run for, the end of the series could finally be near.

Kevin Costner, who stars as John Dutton in the Paramount series, has reportedly been less and less available for shooting the series, sources told Deadline and Variety, creating concern that this marks the beginning of the end for the show. Sources also told Deadline that Costner wanted to only film for a week for the second part of the show's fifth season.

A Paramount Network spokesperson said the company had "no news to report" in a statement to TODAY.com.

"Kevin Costner is a big part of 'Yellowstone' and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come," the spokesperson said.

Deadline reported Paramount and the show's creator, Taylor Sheridan, are moving to end the show in its current form, and are plotting a potential new series in which Matthew McConaughey could lead.

"Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built," the Paramount Network spokesperson said in the statement. "Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner."

The reported shakeup of the series comes after Costner won a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama series for his performance in "Yellowstone."

The actor couldn't attend the ceremony due to the severe flooding in California in January, which flooded roads in Santa Barbara and prevented him from traveling to Beverly Hills.

Costner thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the team behind "Yellowstone" in an Instagram post.

"I share this recognition with my castmates, the producers, and our incredible crew," he wrote. "Most of all, thank you to our show’s fans, who love Yellowstone Ranch as if it were their own."

Sheridan previously said in a 2020 interview with Deadline he knew how the series would end, and that the show was moving toward that conclusion.

"You can’t walk in circles, waiting to get there, because the show will stagnate," Sheridan said. He added he was unsure when the final episode would air, but said he wanted the series to "end on an upswing as opposed to a plateau or a descent."

Sheridan told The New York Times in 2021 he was still working toward the show’s ending. "It will go as many years as it takes for me to tell the story, but you’re not going to see nine seasons of it. No way," he said.

Cole Hauser, who plays Rip in the series, told TODAY.com earlier this year he trusted Sheridan's vision for the ending.

"When he decides that he wants to hang it up, he will," Hauser said. "We’ll see how long it is."

Hauser added he would never ask Sheridan about his plans for the show. "He’ll do what he thinks is right and I trust that his storytelling is going to be right on point," he said.

"Yellowstone" follows the Dutton family as owners of the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. The second half of the show's fifth season will return in summer 2023, according to Paramount Network.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com