With part two of Yellowstone Season 5 kicking off without Kevin Costner, fans are wondering what will become of the series now that its lead has been cast off.
The Neo-Western from Taylor Sheridan split its latest season, which caused scheduling conflicts with the Waterworld star’s passion project, Horizon.
Viewers are eager to know how the rest of Season 5 will play out and if there’s a future for the show beyond that at all. Check out what the cast and crew has said about the show going forward.
It’s ‘Unfortunate’ If Kevin Costner Leaving Changes the Show
Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton, discussed Kevin’s departure from the series, saying that if the writer’s were forced to change anything because of it, it would be a shame.
“Whatever happened there is unfortunate if it’s changed anything about how the show is going to unfold,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I know, [Kevin] got busy with his movies that were, like, passion projects. At a certain point, you gotta do what you gotta do, man; you gotta do what you love.”
Ian Bohen Has ‘Hope’ for the Show as Long as the Audience Stays
Considering whether a deal will be inked for Season 6 to go ahead, Ian Bohen said there’s always a bright side.
“We should always hold out hope. Absolutely. You know this is an audience-based media, so if the audience wants it, generally, they’re going to get it. So if you have a big contingent of people maybe that’s gonna help out.”
There’s Still Plenty of Talent to Shine on ‘Yellowstone’
Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, who play Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton respectively, are jockeying to be the new series leads now that Kevin left, which means a big shake up for Season 6.
“Listen, you can go on forever about these two. There’s no walls when it comes to them, no limits, and as long as Taylor [Sheridan] wants to write something special I know Kelly and I would be interested in doing it,” Cole said of his and Kelly’s characters taking on a larger on-screen presence.
The Series Axing Kevin Costner Ramped ‘the Show Up to a 10’
Luke Grimes had more to say about the direction the writers took considering the cast shake up, but said it’s where the show was going to get to – eventually.
“It’s hard to imagine the show without him,” he said. “But that’s always where the show was headed. It was, can these kids do it without him? So we all knew it was going to get there, we just didn’t know how or when, and clearly it was different than what we thought. But what it did do was ramp the show up to a 10 and now everything starts to unravel.”
Kevin Costner Was Ready to Do ‘Season 5, 6 and 7’ Before Exit
The actor told Deadline, “I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven. In February, after a two-or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. 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. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps.”
With his departure, the show certainly has to take a direction that wasn’t anticipated when contract negotiations were being hammered out.
