Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 Unlikely To Air This Summer

A delayed production schedule for the second half of season 5 and rumors of Kevin Costner leaving are the cause.

Sorry, Yellowstone fans, it looks like we will all have to wait longer for the second half of season 5 of the hit modern Western series. In a panel held at PaleyFest on Saturday, Keith Cox, Paramount President of Development and Production avoided questions about this. In fact, Cox gave no clear update as to when production on part 2 of season 5 will resume.

Kevin Costner to continue with Yellowstone?

While Cox avoided questions about the delayed production schedule, he did show optimism that Kevin Costner, who played John Dutton, will continue. This is even though reports said he was considering leaving Yellowstone. Cox told the audience at PaleyFest:

What I can say he’s our star, the face of our show and the executive producers are very confident he’s going to continue with our show.

Fans were expecting new episodes of Yellowstone season 5 in the summer of 2023. However, Paramount and Costner’s representative didn’t immediately respond to People’s request for comment. Meanwhile, the magazine had asked for the production status of the show, as well as Costner’s part in it.,

Taylor Sheridan, Kevin Costner and more absent from PaleyFest

As recently reported, fans were disappointed when Taylor Sheridan, Costner and other lead cast members were absent from PaleyFest. Held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the event initially promised that Sheridan, Costner, David Glasser, Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Jacki Weaver and Gil Birmingham would appear at the event. In their stead, the final panel lineup consisted of Josh Lucas, Wendy Moniz, Dawn Olivieri and Mo Brings Plenty.

Meanwhile, the event took place after a Deadline report that Matthew McConaughey was in talks for a spinoff of the series. This was after Costner was reportedly planning to exit to focus on his new Western film, Horizon in which he is starring and directing.

Josh Lucas, who plays Costner’s character John Dutton in flashbacks, was asked if he thinks the show could continue without Costner’s character. He said rather alarmingly that Sheridan had “always planned on at some point, having Kevin die and having multiple characters die,” adding:

And so you know that that’s just the evolution of what the ranch is. That’s why when you see the cemetery and you see the names of Elsa and you see the names of Jacob and you see these names, I think it’s of course going to evolve and change. And I think that’s what hopefully people will really like as it goes.

Meanwhile, a spinoff starring McConaughey has been confirmed to be happening by ViacomCBS President, Chris McCarthy. Reportedly, the spinoff will be the latest inspired by the series, and preceded by the prequels 1883 and 1923, as well as 6666.

At the time, McCarthy also told The Hollywood Reporter that the Yellowstone franchise “wouldn’t be what it is today without Kevin, and we hope that that stays for a long time to come.”

There we have it. Although it looks like fans will have to wait longer for the second half of Yellowstone season 5, there is some assurance that Kevin will stay.