On Monday, we were hit with the tough news that Yellowstone would be coming to an end following the conclusion of the second half of Season Five.
A lot of this is believed to have stemmed from the rumors that Kevin Costner was exiting the show after he allegedly asked for only one week to film the second half of season five due to his busy schedule. His lawyer disputed the claims saying that Kevin had already negotiated a short schedule for 2023, but Sheridan didn’t have the scripts ready since he’s working on a dozen other projects.
And now it appears as though Kevin Costner, Taylor Sheridan the the folks at Paramount can’t reach an agreement.
However, there may be more to the story than that.
A source told the Daily Mail that Costner, who is an executive producer on the show, wasn’t a fan of the direction the show was headed, creating tension between he and Sheridan, as the show creator has created a “god complex.”
The source said:
“Kevin will forever be proud of and grateful for ‘Yellowstone’ and the cast is like family to him.
He just felt like ‘Yellowstone’ is headed in a direction that was not in line with their initial vision, and he was met with criticism, including that he should just stick to acting.”
Another source told the New York Post that Sheridan has overbooked himself with all of the other shows he has in the works, and now, Sheridan’s own ego is what is getting in the way.
The source noted:
“Only Taylor truly knows what is going on. Taylor spent years not being truly appreciated in Hollywood, and now that he’s the top of the heap, there’s definitely some ego to all of this.”
Of course, these are just “sources” and there’s no official confirmation to these statements, but it does appear that there’s more going on than what’s been reported.
There is still no timetable for when production for the second half of season five will be.
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Four Different ‘Yellowstone’ Shows Will Air This Year, Including A “Brand New” Series
Despite all the rumors circling around, most of the cast has remained pretty quite on the future of the show.
Mostly because that’s how creator Taylor Sheridan likes it. In fact, the cast has no idea how the show ends, and for those in the prequel series, they don’t even know how they fit into the family tree… unless it’s been explicitly stated in the script.
Nevertheless, regardless of all the rumors and so-called impending doom that Yellowstone is facing, Taylor is still going to be the busiest man in television this year.
According to a Vulture interview with Chris McCarthy, President of Entertainment & Youth Brands at ViacomCBS, Yellowstone isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
In fact, they’re going to crank out even more shows in the Yellowstone universe this year.
He laid it out like this:
“So each year, we’re going to be launching at least one Yellowstone franchise as well as one complementary series.
Our goal is always to have at least two every year, but we’re already ramping out well above that. So, 2021 was ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ and ‘1883’ and last year was ‘1923’ and ‘Tulsa.’
This year alone, it’s going to be a second season of ‘1923,’ it’s going to be ‘Lioness’ and ‘Bass Reeves’ — and that’s just on the streaming space. In linear space, we have ‘Yellowstone’ and we’ll have a brand new ‘Yellowstone’ universe series.”
And when asked about the McConaughey rumors, McCarthy wasn’t about to divulge any secrets, but it’s no surprise they’d love to have him on board:
“I will say, we love Matthew McConaughey. We’ve always been big fans of his.
We’d love for the opportunity to work together, and it really speaks to the quality and type of talent that Taylor brings out, from Harrison Ford to Helen Mirren to Jeremy Renner and David Oyelowo, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and Sylvester Stallone.”
As far as the rumored Kevin Costner exit, he confessed that they’re figuring it out, but also mentioned that the Yellowstone universe is bigger than Costner and can survive without him.
All of that to say that we should be getting a ton of new stuff from Taylor and company this year, including what appears to be the highly-anticipated 6666’s Ranch spinoff.
Why do I say that? Because it was previously announced that the 6666’s Ranch spinoff will air on Paramount Network, not Paramount+ so that would leave me to believe that could be the show they’re talking about.
The other Yellowstone show in the works is another prequel series, 1944, which I suspect will come to Paramount+ much like the other prequels, 1883 and 1923.
So to recap, in 2023, Yellowstone fans should be seeing the second season of 1923 as well as the new 1883 spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story starring David Oyelowo, as well as the second half of Yellowstone Season 5 and the premiere of what could be the new 6666’s spinoff that we’ve been hearing about for years.
Get ready…
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The Dutton Family Tree
1883:
James Dutton
The original patriarch of the Dutton Family, James (Tim McGraw) was a farmer from Tennessee who took his family out west in search of a new life. The husband of Margaret Dutton and father of Elsa, John and Spencer, he chose to establish the modern day Dutton Ranch where his daughter Elsa passed away.
Margaret Dutton
The original matriarch of the Dutton Family, Margaret (Faith Hill) is married to James Dutton and the mother of Elsa, John and Spencer Dutton.
Elsa Dutton
Elsa (Isabel May) was the eldest child of James and Margaret Dutton. She also serves as the narrator of both 1883 and 1923. She was going to marry a cowboy named Ennis, however, he was killed on the journey West. She vowed to return to a Comanche warrior named Sam once her family reached its destination, however she was killed in an attack on the wagon train. The Dutton Ranch property was established where she died, and she was the first to be buried there.
John Dutton
John Dutton (Audie Rick in 1883, James Badge Dale in 1923) is the son of James and Margaret Dutton, brother to Elsa and Spencer. He was just a young boy during the events of 1883, however in 1923, he works alongside his uncle Jacob on the Dutton Ranch. He is married to Emma Dutton, and they have at least one son, Jack.
Claire Dutton
Claire (Dawn Olivieri) is James Dutton’s sister, who joins the journey west with her daughter Mary Abel. A widow, she kills herself once her daughter is killed on the trail.
1923
Jacob Dutton
Jacob (Harrison Ford) is the brother of James Dutton, who becomes the leader of the family once James passes away. He and his wife, Cara Dutton, work to run the ranch with their nephews, John and Spencer, and John’s son Jack.
Cara Dutton
Cara (Helen Mirren) is the wife of Jacob Dutton. A hard-nosed Irish immigrant, she becomes the matriarch of the Dutton family in 1923, following the passing of Margaret and James.
Spencer Dutton
Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) is the second son of James and Margaret Dutton. Born after the Duttons settled in Montana (and the death of his sister, Elsa), Spencer is a WWI vet who spends time hunting in Africa before returning back to Montana to work the ranch. The line could run through him, but I’m more optimistic that Jack carries the line.
Emma Dutton
Emma (Marley Shelton) is the wife of John Dutton Sr. and the mother of Jack Dutton.
Jack Dutton
Jack (Darren Mann) works on the Dutton Ranch alongside his father, John Dutton Sr. and great-uncle, Jacob Dutton. He is engaged to Elizabeth Strafford, the daughter of another notable rancher.
My suspicion is that Jack may be the father of John Dutton II since the “II” title is generally used when the child is named after another relative, not the father. This is just a guess, but my hunch is that John Dutton won’t survive 1923, and Jack will name his first born son after his late father… John Dutton II.
Elizabeth Strafford-Dutton
Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) is Jack’s fiancée. The two end up postponing their wedding briefly, but are planning on marrying very soon.
Yellowstone
John Dutton III
The modern day leader of the Dutton family and the current Governor of Montana. He is the father of Lee Dutton, Beth Dutton and Kayce Dutton, and the adoptive father of Jamie Dutton.
Evelyn Dutton
Evelyn (Gretchen Mol) is the wife of John Dutton III who passed away in a horseback riding accident when her children were young. She is the mother of Lee, Beth and Kayce Dutton.
Lee Dutton
Lee (Dave Annable) is the oldest son of John and Evelyn Dutton. The heir to the Dutton Ranch, Lee was killed by Robert Long (Monica’s brother) after an argument broke out over stolen cattle.
Beth Dutton
Beth (Kelly Reilly) is the daughter of John Dutton III and wife of Rip Wheeler, her father’s ranch foreman and right-hand man. Unable to have children of her own, her and Rip have taken in teenage Carter.
Rip Wheeler
Rip (Cole Hauser) is the Yellowstone foreman and right-hand man of John Dutton III. He came to the Dutton Ranch as an orphaned teenager after he killed his own father (who killed his mother and brother). Teenage sweethearts, he eventually marries John’s daughter, Beth Dutton.
Kayce Dutton
Kayce (Luke Grimes) is the youngest of the Dutton siblings, and a former Navy SEAL. He’s married to Monica Dutton and the father of Tate Dutton and John Dutton IV (deceased).
Monica Dutton
Monica (Kelsea Asbille) was raised on the Broken Rock Reservation. She is married to Kayce Dutton and the mother of Tate Dutton and John Dutton IV.
Tate Dutton
Tate (Brecken Merrill) is the oldest son of Kayce and Monica Dutton, the eldest of the 7th generation of Duttons.
John Dutton IV
John Dutton IV is the second son of Kayce and Monica Dutton, who tragically only lived a few hours following complications from an early birth and a car accident.
Jamie Dutton
Jamie (Wes Bentley) is the adopted son of John Dutton III and the black sheep of the Dutton family.
Christina
Christina is Jamie’s ex assistant and the mother of his child.
James Dutton Jr.
The son of Jamie Dutton and his ex-girlfriend Christina, Jamie finds out he has a son after the birth.
1923 is available to stream… NOW.
If you’re looking for the entire Yellowstone soundtrack, complete through every episode of Season 5 (so far), then look no further.
Our Yellowstone: The Soundtrack Playlist, featuring every song from every episode, updated in real time, every Sunday night.
