Yellowstone may be one of the most popular dramas on television, but lately much of the drama has been occurring away from the cameras. The hit Paramount Network series has been on hiatus for more than a year as fans await the back half of its final season — which hasn’t even started filming. Issues arose between showrunner Taylor Sheridan and star Kevin Costner, especially as the latter shot his two-part Warner Bros. western epic, Horizon. This led to quite a few reports suggesting Costner’s John Dutton, the lead character in Yellowstone, would be absent for the final 10 episodes.
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That could potentially change as production nears, due to some changes in the attitude of Costner. According to a new report from Puck, Costner has indicated a desire to come back for the final episodes, even if that just means appearing in a cameo. At this time, however, there aren’t any ongoing talks regarding his return.
The other issue Costner could be facing in a potential Yellowstone return is the fact that the final episodes have already been written. Sheridan wrote Costner’s John Dutton out of the show with these scripts, and a return by Costner would require some rewriting on his part. Sheridan may not want to do that, but he is surely aware just how positive the fan reaction to Costner’s return would be.
Production on the final Yellowstone episodes is set to begin sometime soon, though an official date hasn’t been announced. The end of this series will likely segue into a , which could potentially star Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Pfeiffer. It’s unclear which original Yellowstone cast members would take part in that follow-up title.
Other Potential Yellowstone Returns
Costner’s return as John Dutton is certainly up in the air right now, but he’s not the only version of the character fans are hoping to see again. Josh Lucas plays a younger John Dutton in flashbacks throughout the series, and there’s a good chance he could have at least one more appearance over the final episodes. Perhaps the flashbacks of John could help tell his story without Costner on set.
Lucas recently spoke to and revealed that, “as far as he knows” he is slated to return at some point over the back half of Season 5.
“I did text Taylor a couple of months and said, ‘Hey man, I’ve loved working on the show so much.’ He’s like, ‘Well, we’ll be back,’” Lucas said.
