Yellowstone officially has a premiere date for the second half of its fifth season, but they moved on without Kevin Costner. Fans will finally see what happens next on Nov. 10, almost two years since they last caught up with their favorite Montana characters. The cast might be getting a sixth season, per Deadline, but not everyone agrees with show creator Taylor Sheridan’s decision to not resolve his conflict with the 69-year-old actor.
“They’re caught between a rock and a hard place because they want to stay in Taylor Sheridan’s good graces, but some of them do really miss Kevin and feel like it was a huge mistake not figuring out a compromise,” a source to Life & Style. Costner could probably use a win after his pet project, Horizon: An American Saga, failed to generate any excitement at the box office. His second installment of the four-part franchise managed to get a lukewarm reception at the Venice Film Festival after getting its summer release postponed.
“Kevin’s well aware the likes of Taylor Sheridan and other turncoats are probably chuckling over Horizon’s bad viewing numbers, and it’s only strengthened his bitterness and dislike toward them,” a second source added. That resentment has only fueled the Yellowstone feud even further as the cast takes sides in the ongoing dispute. Costner broke his silence in May to Deadline talking about how disappointed he was that Sheridan couldn’t accommodate his Horizon shooting schedule.
“Well, I haven’t felt good about it the last year, what with the way they’ve talked about it. It wasn’t truthful. So now I’m talking about a little bit about what the real truth of it was. I made a contract for seasons five, six, and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract,” he explained to the outlet. “They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six. They weren’t able to make those.” He added that they kept moving the scheduling “gaps” and he finally had to bow out of Yellowstone for good.
Despite Costner’s rumored fight behind the scenes for control over the story and more money, some of the Yellowstone cast is reportedly supportive of him — and others? Well, not so much. Life & Style‘s source described it as a “big divide.” They noted, “Some people on the cast are moaning about what a big mistake it was to let him go and what a disaster it is and others seem to have this attitude of good riddance because they’re desperate to have more of the limelight.”
The real test will be the ratings when the show finally returns in November — will the audience miss Costner’s beloved John Dutton? Only time will tell.
