The future of Yellowstone post-Season 5B has been shrouded in uncertainty and mystery. Paramount once made it clear that the show wouldn’t return for another season, and the door remained shut until Season 5B’s promotional material started sending mixed signals to fans, hinting that the series’ finale might not even be in Season 5. Meanwhile, fans have been flooded by reports about potential spinoffs and cast returns, but hardly anything is confirmed.
1923 is returning for another season to tackle the Dutton family’s history. The spinoff series The Madison was once set to be a direct sequel to Yellowstone. However, the story’s change of direction in focusing on a new family leaves the Dutton family’s post-Yellowstone fate in the air. With the rumor of a Beth and Ripp spinoff potentially picking up where Season 5B left off, many fans are wondering what Yellowstone‘s future looks like now that the Season 5 finale is out.
Fans Still Can’t Rule Out Yellowstone Season 6
Yellowstone was supposed to end with Season 5B, with Paramount’s previous announcement in 2023 revealing that the sixth season had been scrapped. In exchange, the network planned on going forward with a sequel series. In the statement, David Classer, CEO of 101 Studios confirmed that “the Dutton story continues” in “another epic tale,” which would pick up right where Yellowstone left off. There have been many different reports after Season 6’s initial cancelation. Matthew McConaughey was reportedly going to headline a sequel titled 2024, which was later retitled The Madison, following a different family. The sequel stars Michelle Pfeiffer in the lead role as Stacy Clyburn, along with Beau Garrett, Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Amish Miller, Alaina Pollack, Rebecca Spence, Kevin Zegers, Ben Schweitzer and Danielle Vasinova, among others.
How McConaughey would fit into the project is a mystery that’s leaning toward the fact that he’s not in it. However, there was a time when McConaughey’s involvement in a Yellowstone sequel seemed like a done deal. In a Hollywood Reporter profile on Taylor Sheridan, the show’s creator revealed that they were “in late-stage negotiations” with McConaughey for a sequel, in which the actor seemed like “a natural fit.” However, the actor never confirmed his involvement in the project. The updates on a sequel with McConaughey went nowhere, and the release of Yellowstone 5B in 2024 also changed the course of the franchise.
Yellowstone 5B isn’t billed as the series finale in the promotional material, which led to many thinking that the main show could potentially return for another season despite the previous cancelation. The teaser trailer for Season 5B used wording such as “season finale” instead of series finale, leaving the door open for the show. It seems that Paramount didn’t rule out the possibility of the show’s return. Meanwhile, the network is busy eying cast members for Yellowstone-related projects that would continue the Dutton story (with The Madison seemingly moving more into the direction of a spinoff rather than a direct sequel). How the Duttons’ story will continue is a question that is yet to receive a clear answer.
The Yellowstone Story Continues
The Dutton family patriarch’s death kicked off Yellowstone Season 5B with a mystery. The last batch of episodes ties up the Dutton’s multi-generational story in the Yellowstone franchise. The fate of the ranch is settled by a deal between Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), which honors the agreement made by Jamie Dutton and the Indigenous Americans centuries ago in 1883. When James and his wife Margaret settled in Montana, they agreed to return the land to the Indigenous Americans in seven generations. Yellowstone Season 5B’s finale sees Yellowstone Ranch becoming part of the Native American Reservation. At the same time, Beth avenges her father’s death.
Grimes previously discussed his return for a potential Season 6 with Esquire, though he didn’t think it’d make sense for the mothership to continue. The actor admitted that if the network chose to continue Yellowstone, he’d “do it.” Though with the way Season 5B left things, he didn’t think another season would work out so well with Kayce’s character arc also coming to an end. He said:
I’d do it. I just don’t understand how it would work once the story ends. Kayce wants to cowboy and be happy with his family. He doesn’t want to kill people anymore. He doesn’t want the weight of a huge mega ranch that isn’t sustainable in today’s times. He wants his little slice of heaven. It’s that simple.
Birmingham, on the other hand, felt that the story of Yellowstone is far from finished. For generations, the Dutton family has been taking care of the land and the ranch. With the family ranch now part of the Native American reservation, a new opportunity has opened up, which would allow the audience to see more of the Indigenous side of the story. Speaking about the treaty Kayce and Rainwater agreed on, the actor believes that Thomas would honor the deal “out of respect” in an interview with Screen Rant. He hoped that the story in Yellowstone would continue, showing more engagement between the Duttons and the reservation, especially with Tate being part of both groups. “He’s coming from both worlds,” the actor said. With Yellowstone 5B coming to a full cycle for the Duttons since Elsa’s death in 1883, the show could potentially bring forth a new beginning moving forward. Birmingham said, “The holding of the land was on one side, the Duttons, and now the holding on the land is on his other side, so it’ll be an interesting, growing-up experience for him.”
Since Yellowstone 5B’s release, many spinoff ideas have been floating around among the fandom, with one being a potential Broken Rock spinoff. Birmingham has shared his excitement about the potential opportunity to dive deeper into his character. “Taylor’s always been very close to the vest about any thoughts that he has about it,” the actor told Screen Rant. “I don’t know, maybe that makes it even more exciting because it lends itself to trust, you know?” Birmingham places his trust in Sheridan’s vision of whether to continue Yellowstone with a Native story. He said:
And, yeah, plenty of people have suggested that [a Broken Rock spinoff], and I think it would be a wonderful world of exploring the Rainwater-Mo world, now being the reverse scenario of the keeper of the land, as opposed to the legacy of the Dutton family.
A Rip and Beth Spinoff Has Been Confirmed
Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser) bought a new ranch outside Dillon, Montana, and their story will be continued in a spinoff. The rumor about Beth and Rip taking the lead in Duttons’ story post-Yellowstone 5B has been around for quite some time. There were reports about them rumored to come back for a sixth season, but it seems that a spinoff would eventually be the way to go. Deadline reported in August 2024 that MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios were negotiating a deal with Reilly and Hauser. In December, Deadline reported that the studios had closed deals with both actors to lead a spinoff series, where they’d reprise their roles in the Yellowstone universe. The report also claimed that the spinoff series would be the first to carry “Yellowstone” in the title.
While many remained doubtful about the report, Reilly recently cleared things up on her social media. In a tribute post about her time as Beth in Yellowstone, the actor replied to a fan’s comment about the rumor of the Beth and Rip’s project, confirming that it’s “true” they will come back for a spinoff series. The fan commented, “So is the rumour in the UK that you and Rip are making a spin off season not true! Whatever happens I’ve loved every second of every episode in every season. You guys are all amazing!!” Reilly replied, “True” with a white heart emoji.
The Yellowstone Franchise Is Far From Finished
Taylor Sheridan may have completed the Yellowstone story as he always envisioned despite the change of plans with Kevin Costner’s departure after Season 5A. The series executive producer, Christina Alexandra Voros, revealed in an interview with Variety that though she “never had a specific conversation” with Sheridan, she had “secondhand” knowledge from Sheridan’s conversations with the cast that the original plan for “the ultimate ending” was always to be “the loss of the patriarch and passing on the legacy,” which Yellowstone 5B still managed to achieve in the absence of Costner.
It sounds like Season 5B is the endgame for Yellowstone. On the other hand, it makes sense for the network to hesitate about making it an official wrap for the show. With the Taylor Sheridan universe rapidly expanding, with multiple spinoffs, prequels and sequels at various stages of development, it’s clear that the story of Yellowstone is far from over. The uncertainty around the right way forward is likely the cause of the confusion. However, it seems clear that spinoffs are the way to go post-Yellowstone, at least for now.
