Well, this is depressing…
If you’ve been keeping up with the Yellowstone drama here lately, then you know that there’s a serious possibility that the show may have to go on without Kevin Costner, who stars as John Dutton, the lead character and patriarch of the Dutton family on the show.
The conflict has arisen out of scheduling issues between Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan.
Rumors began to arise that Costner originally only asked for one week to film the second half of Season Five, which was originally supposed to start filming in march, and air at some point this summer.
It was initially reported by Deadline:
“Costner, who had originally limited himself to 65 days of shooting on Yellowstone, only wanted to shoot for 50 days for the first part of the current season.
Paramount Network has declined Costner’s most recent proposal and instead has made the decision to move on to the other show.”
Paramount responded to the situation by saying:
“We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built.
Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
However, Costner’s attorney Marty Singer has denied these rumors, saying they’re completely false.
He told Puck News:
“The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of Season 5 of Yellowstone is an absolute lie. It’s ridiculous, and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second.
As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
The studio also alleges that Costner contracted COVID, which caused delays in filming. But since the negotiated filming window had passed, COVID or not, Costner doesn’t want to make up the lost time.
But there’s a good reason why Costner negotiated a tight filming schedule this year… he’s working on his own western film series, Horizon, which he co-wrote, produced, directed and will star in.
Costner’s team also blames Sheridan’s busy schedule for poor scheduling, missing deadlines, and late scripts.
“Season 5 was supposed to finish shooting in its entirety in 2022. But Sheridan, busy with tons of other projects, failed to deliver scripts on time and constantly moved the schedule around, this source counters.
When the Covid delay hit, Costner did charge those days to his window of availability, but he performed exactly as his contract required.”
It sounds like Costner isn’t willing to delay his own massive project, Horizon, to finish filming the second half of Yellowstone Season 5, which of course, doesn’t bode well for Costner’s participation in Yellowstone Season 6.
In fact, Puck.com believes that these negotiations could take so long, that the second half of the season won’t air until this upcoming fall, November in particular, as production for the rest of the season is more than likely going to take place in late summer and/or fall, which was originally the set filming time for Season 6.
Needless to say, it has caused a major traffic jam… and it doesn’t look like Costner will be backing down.
In the event that terms cannot be reached with Costner, it has been reported that Yellowstone as we know it could end, and new series starring Matthew McConaughey will continue with much of the original cast (perhaps the 6666’s Ranch spinoff we’ve been promised), but only time will tell.
Stay tuned…
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Will The 6666’s Spinoff Star Matthew McConaughey?
Headed down to Texas.
An absolute bombshell was recently dropped on Yellowstone fans as it was reported that Kevin Costner will possibly be exiting the show and Yellowstone as we know it will be coming to an end.
A new series will eventually pick up where Yellowstone left off, and will feature Matthew McConaughey in the leading role to replace the hole left by Costner.
A number of stars from Yellowstone will also be featured in the new series, however it remains unclear which ones. Paramount has not confirmed anything, and I think it’s safe to say that none of these details are set in stone quite yet:
However, could this abrupt exit be setting the stage for the 6666 spinoff we’ve been promised?
I think so…
Yellowstone: 6666
Back in February of 2021, before the insane amount of projects Taylor Sheridan is working on right now was ever revealed, it was announced that a Texas-based spinoff series was in the works, set at the iconic 6666’s Ranch in West, Texas.
The 6666’s Ranch was founded by Samuel “Burk” Burnett in 1870, when he bought 100 head of cattle branded with “6666” on them. These days, the property is a staggering 266,000 acres across three ranches: The 6666, the Frisco Creek and the Dixon Creek.
It was rumored to star Jefferson White as Jimmy Hurdstrom and Ryan Bingham as Walker, but other than that, there wasn’t much detail aside from this synopsis:
“Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing.
The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.”
But then, Taylor Sheridan bought the actual ranch…
Taylor Sheridan Acquires The 6666’s Ranch
According to Fort Worth Report, the massive ranch located in Guthrie, Texas, was originally listed for a whopping $340 million, however the most recent listing from Chas S Middleton showed a price of $192,202,200.
A group led by Yellowstone and 1883 creator, Taylor Sheridan, has been confirmed to have made the purchase.
A while back when talks of the purchase first surfaced, Sheridan, who is a Texas rancher himself, commented on what the legacy of the ranch means to him
“I can’t comment on a pending transaction but I will say this: the legacy of the 6666 Ranch and Miss Marion’s vision for the ranch are vital not only to the ranch itself, but the rich heritage of ranching in Texas.
This legacy is so important to me I chose to highlight it in the upcoming season of ‘Yellowstone’ and will continue to further the legacy and preserve its operations in a manner consistent with that great vision.”
Of course, Taylor began filming down at the 6666’s when Jimmy was sent down there to learn how to be a real cowboy, and it became an integral part of Season 4.
He was mostly absent from Season 5, however, during the Season 5 mid-season finale, we went back down to Texas to see catch up with Jimmy and his new fiancée, Emily.
But back in Montana, the Dutton family needs to find somewhere to take their cattle after a Brucellosis outbreak has compromised the land. John gets on the horn with the 6666’s Ranch, meanwhile Beth starts talking with them about online sales.
And as the mid-season finale wraps up, Rip and some of the Bunkhouse crew are headed south to save the herd.
So all of that to say… it sounds like the perfect transition into a 6666’s spinoff without John Dutton, doesn’t it?
Here’s a few reasons why:
1. Jimmy is already there and Season 4 largely set the table for the 6666’s spinoff.
2. Rip and the crew are already headed down that way, to save the herd. And while they may not be headed to the actual 6666’s Ranch in Texas, the new land is somehow connected.
3. Matthew McConaughey is a native Texas so it makes sense that his character would be a Texan as well.
4. John is set to stay back and continue running the State of Montana so it would be easy to leave him out of the next chapter.
5. Paramount Network announced that the 6666’s spinoff would air on Paramount Network as opposed to the previously announced streaming service Paramount+. If Yellowstone goes away, it would make sense that the new series could slot into that television time.
Only time will tell, but if the plan is to end Yellowstone as we know it and continue the story with a new spinoff series starring a large part of the original cast (and McConaughey), the 6666’s spinoff seems like the most obvious way to do it.
And there are probably many more reasons why it makes sense to continue the story down in Texas including financial reasons (they own the property), filming schedules (usually no harsh winters in Texas), logistics (all of Taylor’s horses, which are used in the show, live down there), and more.
We’ll see…
Jefferson White Weighs In
Jefferson White sat down with us on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast and explained everything he knows about the upcoming spinoff so far.
Here’s what he had to say:
“We filmed those Four Sixes sequences down at the Four Sixes, which is a real life, huge, working cattle ranch… one of the biggest in the country, one of the oldest in the country. After spending four years on the Yellowstone which is a fictional ranch, it was a real eye-opener to go down to the Sixes which is a real life, incredible, sort of goliath, cattle ranch.
As far as the spinoff goes, I don’t think you’ll be surprised that I, Jeff/Jimmy never have any idea what the f*ck is going on, and any time I think I do, Taylor does something better and cooler than I ever could’ve imagined.
All I can say is that I hope… I’m incredibly grateful for the work we’ve gotten to do so far, incredibly proud… all I can say as an actor is job security is very rare and very precious so I wanna play this character as long as they’ll let me.
And we’ll find out together how much longer that is… anytime I think I know what’s best for this character or for this world, Taylor proves me wrong. He knows better than any of us.”
Needless to say, only time will tell, but based on the way we saw Jimmy leave the Yellowstone Ranch at the end of Season 4… it sounds like Jimmy is going to be the star of his own show someday soon.
Stay tuned… with Taylor Sheridan involved, anything is possible.
Listen to the full podcast with Jefferson White, AKA Jimmy Hurdstrom, below:
The podcast is available everywhere. Download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.
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