Why is Kevin Costner leaving ‘Yellowstone’?

The second half of season 5 of Yellowstone is set to debut in November, though it will continue on without its star Kevin Costner. It was previously announced that this would be the final season of the show, and now Costner has confirmed he is no longer under contractual obligations with the series.

Why is Costner leaving Yellowstone?

The ending of Yellowstone is abrupt and that’s mainly due to Costner’s leaving the show. Costner is currently working on a passion project as the director, co-writer, and star of a series of movies called Horizon: An American Saga. He has a grueling 220-day schedule for the films. There were rumors that Costner requested to work less and speed up the filming on Yellowstone.

“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” said Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. “He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”

Costner “very upset” about his character

It wasn’t just because of the schedule and being busy that Costner decided to leave the show though. Costner was apparently very unhappy with the direction his character was going and had even spoken up about that as early as season two.

“There was a time in season two when he was very upset and said the character wasn’t going in the direction he wanted,” said Sheridan. “I said, ‘Kevin, you do remember that I told you this is essentially The Godfather on the largest ranch in Montana? Are you that surprised that the Godfather is killing people?’”

“What he’s clung to is [Dutton’s] commitments to his family and way of life,” Sheridan continued. “Dutton’s big failing is not evolving with the times - not finding different revenue streams [for the ranch]. Kevin felt season two was deviating from that, and I don’t know that he was wrong. In season three, we steered back into it.”

“I recall him winning a Golden Globe last year for his performance, so I think it’s working.”

Either way, Sheridan has said that the scripts have not been completed yet and that it’s unclear whether or not Costner will be available to film and be a part of the last scenes. Costner is also in the middle of a messy divorce after 18 years of marriage to his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner. The show is supposed to begin filming in August, but in Costner’s court proceedings, he says, “I do not anticipate that I will be on location for at least the rest of 2023.”

Sheridan, however, said that the conclusion was never meant to have Costner’s character in it anyway and that it would not change based on his availability. Reports have come out that the character of John Dutton will die in the second half of season 5, and early on.

“I’m disappointed” said Sheridan. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”

Details will later be announced about a Yellowstone spinoff series starring Matthew McConaughey.