And we finally have confirmation…
We were recently hit with the sad news that Yellowstone will officially come to a close at the end of season five, after it was initially believed that the show was going to go on for at least six or seven seasons.
I mean, when does a show close up shop at the peak of its popularity? Never…
Of course, this comes after a tumultuous past few months with the show, after there was allegedly a conflict in scheduling between Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan.
Costner wanted time to film his own stuff, delays in productions pushed the filming of Yellowstone back… it’s been a mess. Meanwhile Taylor Sheridan has reportedly been slow to get scripts done (spread a little too thin?) and Costner was reportedly told to “stick to acting” when voicing concerns about the direction of the show.
Needless to say, the show had been very vague on any new information about the future of the show, and there have been a ton of rumors and “insider sources,” but nothing confirmed… until now.
Yellowstone will officially end following Season 5.
And, the Matthew McConaughey spinoff series is still in the works.
According to Deadline, Yellowstone will end following the second half of Season 5, and a new sequel series will pick up right where the show left off. Some of the original cast is expected to return although it’s unclear exactly who… all we know for sure is that Kevin Costner will not be a part of the sequel.
McConaughey has for sure been in talks for the project, but they are in the negotiations process at the moment.
The sequel, which is the first offshoot in the Yellowstone saga, will initially run on the Paramount Network, and then on Paramount+. The announcement comes after Paramount Global fell shy of the Wall Street forecasts yesterday when they reported a loss of about $1.1 billion for Q1, resulting in a 25% stock price drop.
We also are unsure if all remaining Yellowstone scripts have been completed, or for the upcoming sequel series, and with a current writers strike going on, the release dates could be pushed back again.
Chris McCarthy, President & CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios weighed in on the situation:
“Yellowstone has been the cornerstone on which we have launched an entire universe of global hits – from 1883 to Tulsa King, and I am confident our Yellowstone sequel will be another big hit, thanks to the brilliant creative mind of Taylor Sheridan and our incredible casts who bring these shows to life.”
David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios added:
“The Dutton story continues, picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale. We are thrilled to bring this new journey to audiences around the world.”
So there you have it… Yellowstone is no more, a sequel that will likely feature Matthew McConaughey is in the works, and that’s where we’re headed in the world of Taylor Sheridan.
Could the sequel series be the 6666’s Ranch spinoff we’ve been hearing about for years now? 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.
Audio
Video
If you’re looking for the entire Yellowstone soundtrack, complete through every episode of Season 4, then look no further.
Our Yellowstone: The Soundtrack Playlist, featuring every song from every episode, updated in real time, every Sunday night.
