It truly is sad to know that Yellowstone will be coming to an end after season five, after it was allegedly supposed to go on for at least seven seasons.
Of course, we all thought that this was part of the rumor that Kevin Costner was exiting the show due to scheduling conflicts to film the second half of season five, after he allegedly only wanted one week to film due to his busy schedule.
Which there may be some truth to that, but as more details have emerged, we now know that there may be more to the story.
Back in April, a source told Daily Mail that show creator Taylor Sheridan has developed a “God complex” after all of the success he’s seen thus far from the Yellowstone saga, and Costner wasn’t a fan of the direction the show was going:
“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 stick to acting.”
Another source told the New York Post:
“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.”
So, it appears that there have been some issues with Sheridan as well, if these sources are correct.
Now another report has been surfaced, as the Wall Street Journal reports that Sheridan’s wild spending for the show may have contributed to the early conclusion.
Apparently Paramount and 101 Studios pay Sheridan tens of thousands of dollars a week on top of what he’s paid to write, direct, and produce his series, and to use his various companies and services, such as a “cowboy camp” to train actors.
He rents cattle to Paramount at $25 a head, and charges up to $50,000 a week for the show to film on ranches he owns.
He also billed the studio $3,000 to pay a wrangler in Texas who was looking after his horses to fly out to Montana.
David Glasser, head of 101 Studios, said in a staff email:
“Are you kidding me? We can’t find a local person?”
The story states that Paramount and 101 Studios are growing increasingly bothered by the showrunner’s insane expenses.
Episodes for Yellowstone and 1923 cost reportedly up to $22 million each to produce.
However, a spokesperson for Paramount said that Sheridan’s shows are the most successful and profitable, but Paramount suffered a first quarter loss of $1.1 billion, somewhat in part to increases in streaming content costs.
I guess we may never know the truth about what’s happened behind the scenes to bring the show to an abrupt end, but at least we still have half of a season to look forward to before the ride’s over.
And from all these leaks we’ve been getting, it sounds like it’s been one hell of a ride.
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Yellowstone Prequel ‘1883’ Is Coming To The Paramount Network
If you’ve been dying to watch the Yellowstone prequel series 1883, but you don’t have Paramount+, you’re in luck…
Because you’ll be able to watch the full season on TV soon, as it’s heading to the Paramount Network.
According to Deadline, the broadcast will begin on Sunday, June 18th at 8 PM ET/PT, and will include extended featurettes at the end of each episode.
1883, starring the likes of Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Billy Bob Thornton, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelson, James Landry Hebert, and more, is the first chronological chapter of the Dutton family history, as follows the Duttons as they begin their trek out west, where they ultimately settle in Montana, the modern-day location of the Dutton property.
Of course, there were several wild trials and tribulations along the way, as a number of people lost their lives in search of better opportunity.
Written by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, the single season show is followed by 1923, which is currently gearing up to film its second and final season.
Needless to say, this is a great opportunity to help fill the void as we continue to await the highly anticipated second half of Yellowstone season five, which continues to get pushed back.
Check out the full trailer:
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Sam Elliott Says He Would Love To Do An ‘1883’ Prequel Series
Sam Elliott, what a legend.
Many of us know him for his roles in movies like Road House, The Big Lebowski, A Star Is Born, Tombstone, Gettysburg, Buffalo Girls, the TV show The Ranch, and so many more.
The guy has played roles in several different genres throughout his career, but most recently, we all know and love the guy for his role as cowboy and civil war veteran Shea Brennan on the Yellowstone prequel series, 1883, where he helps lead the Dutton family from Texas to Montana.
Elliott recently sat down for an interview with Variety, where he discussed playing the role of Brennan, and how it was right up his alley, considering all of the western movies he’s played in in the past:
“It wasn’t a big stretch for me, because I was so familiar with the genre. That said, I went places I had never gone before in that genre. And I think that’s probably because so much of the character was internalized.”
He also admitted that he wishes they had done a prequel to 1883, telling the story of each character before the show:
“I think everybody was sad to see it over; I know I was. I would have liked to have that wagon train go to Canada by then and just stay with it.
My thought was, ‘Let’s do a prequel of this.’ Where was LaMonica? Where were those two guys? Pick it up after the war, when they were Pinkertons. There’s plenty of stuff to do.”
However, there WILL actually be an 1883 prequel of sorts, with the upcoming Bass Reeves series.
Titled 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, the six-part series will star David Oyelowo as Reeves, a legendary lawman of the wild west, who’s known as one of the greatest frontier heroes in American history, and is believed to be the inspiration behind The Lone Ranger.
Reeves worked as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory during the post-reconstruction era, capturing more than 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals of that time period, without ever being wounded.
Sounds like Sam needs to brush up on his Yellowstone.
