We finally have an answer about Yellowstone’s future—but, as is to be expected with a show known for its behind the scenes drama, it’s complicated. Last year, Paramount announced that the show will conclude after the second half of season five, and when those episodes will debut: November 10, 2024.
However, in August 2024, it was confirmed that stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, who play Beth and Rip on the series, are now in talks to reprise their roles for a sixth season! While no deal has been struck yet, it’s the first sign of hope that there could be even more Yellowstone coming.
As for the second half of season 5, now known as 5B, information has been slow to reveal itself. This week Paramount dropped the first official teaser trailer, and things are looking tense on the ranch. Watched the teaser here:
The first half of the fifth season of Yellowstone debuted in November of 2022 and wrapped up with a mid-season finale in January, with the promise of six more episodes to round out the show’s super-sized, fourteen episode fifth season. However, actor Josh Lucas, who plays the younger version of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton in flashbacks, indicated that there could be even more episodes coming that previously anticipated, telling Deadline in March 2024 that after speaking with creator Taylor Sheridan, “I think we’re going to do 10 or so more episodes, and wrap up the story.”
This isn’t the first hint we’ve had that the final block of Yellowstone episodes might be supersized. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in June 2023, Sheridan said the final half of season five would possibly have ten episodes—making season five a total of eighteen episodes. “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10,” Sheridan said. “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
Whether or not Lucas’s version of John Dutton will be appearing in some or all of those episodes wasn’t immediately clear, though it’s possible that Sheridan plans to use flashbacks to wrap up the character’s story in lieu of having star Kevin Costner return for the end of the series.
The first images from the season promise drama.
In late August, new pictures offered our first look at what’s in store for the Duttons. (See all the photos here.)
Whatever’s coming, it looks like fan-favorite couple Beth and Rip are standing strong together.
Kayce, Monica, and Tate look to be sticking together in their own small family.
When will season five return?
The second half of season 5, which will now mark the final batch of episodes of Yellowstone, will debut on Paramount Network on November 10, 2024. It’s not currently clear when or if it could appear on steaming.
In March 2024, Ian Bohen, who plays cowboy Ryan on the series, gave a hint at the show’s timeline. In an interview with ET, Bohen revealed, “We will go back, rumor has it, in May. We should be on in November, roughly.” Those dates clearly aren’t set in stone, though, because the actor quickly added, “You’re gonna have to give me some leeway on that. It’s not gonna be sooner than that. It could be June. We shoot six episodes… November… maybe December, and then we go through the holidays, and then maybe season finale…series finale, maybe on Super Bowl, and that will be the end of an era.”
As for the finale itself, Bohen shared his feelings, saying, “It’s like going to college and grad school with the same people for six or eight years, and you’re like, ‘Wait, we have to go? Then what are we gonna do next? It feels empty and weird so I’m gonna try to wring out every second of it.”
Paramount originally confirmed that the show would be returning some time in the summer of 2023, a date that was later moved to November, and then December, before finally being announced for November 2024.
Is this the last season?
Following the exit of Kevin Costner it was revealed that Yellowstone not will get a sixth season. The announcement of show’s ending was the culmination of several tense months of speculation about the show’s future. In early February 2023, Deadline reported on rumors that Yellowstone might be ending, writing, “The crux of the issue with the original Yellowstone series involves star Kevin Costner and disagreements over shooting schedules. We are told Paramount Network has declined Costner’s most recent proposal and instead has made the decision to move on to the other show, sources said.”
However, after months of build-up to Yellowstones finale, in August 2024, it was revealed that the network and stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are, in fact, in talks to bring the show back for another season, so consider this question very much up in the air.
