Kevin Costner appeared in 47 episodes of Yellowstone, a neo-Western drama TV series created by Taylor Sheridan for Paramount Network.
The first episode was released on June 20, 2018.
Yellowstone’s 5A aired in 2022 and 2023.
Costner officially announced his departure from Yellowstone in June 2024. Kevin Costner made more than $1.3 million per episode in season 5.
He confirmed that he would not return for the second half of Season 5, which premiered on November 10, 2024.
He said via Instagram:
“I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue, season five or into the future.”
So, Why Did Kevin Costner Leave Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2?
Kevin Costner recives the Colonna D’Oro during the 21st Magna Graecia Film Festival – @Getty
Kevin Costner’s decision to leave Yellowstone was primarily due to scheduling conflicts with his ambitious project, Horizon, a film series of four planned American epic westerns.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 was released on June 28, 2024.
“It was important for me to be able to do other things and, you know, try to make that work,” he revealed in an interview about Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter 1.
For the series, Costner put $38 million of his wealth into the project as well as being heavily involved in co-writing, producing, directing, and starring.
Costner actually mortgaged a rather sizable property in order to self-finance it.
Kevin Costner attends the Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons Honoring Julie Greenwald & Craig Kallman at The Beverly Hilton on February 04, 2023 in Beverly Hills – @Getty
“His movie seems to be a great priority to him, and he wants to shift focus,” Taylor Sheridan stated about the issue. “I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one.”
“We respect that Kevin has prioritized his new film series and we wish him the best,” a Paramount Network spokesperson said.
Regarding leaving Yellowstone, Costner also cited frustrations over production delays.
“We very rarely started when we said we would and we didn’t finish when we said we would,” Costner confessed in an interview with GQ.
2023 Writers Guild of America strike
@Getty
Another possible reason is the absence of completed scripts (due to the 2023 Hollywood mega-strike involving writers and performers).
That prevented work from being done on the 2nd half of Season 5.
Costner’s character, patriarch John Dutton, was written off in the Season 5 Part 2 premiere.
The character was found dead in the first few minutes of episode 9, initially appearing as a suicide, but later revealed to be a murder orchestrated by Sarah Atwood (played by Dawn Olivieri) and Jamie Dutton Wes Bentley).
Costner expressed disappointment over the lack of support from the production team during his departure, but also expressed his appreciation for the series and its fans.
He initially only wanted to do ‘one season’ of Yellowstone
Kevin Costner attends the “Horizon: An American Saga” Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2024 – @Getty
Costner originally wanted to do “one season” of Yellowstone.
“I wanted to do this,” he told ET about Yellostone. “Maybe do one season or just one long movie, and ended up doing five (seasons).”
In the summer of 2024, Costner revealed he would definitely reprise his role as John Dutton III.
The actor said:
“I would love to go back under the right circumstances. I think that all of us want, right?”
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I am Bulgarea Candin Stefan, and I founded FamousPeopleToday.com in 2018. I’m using my bachelor’s degree in economics and 9 years of experience in blogging to guide millions of people through the incredibly complex world of celebrity net worths.