Yellowstone Spinoff Series Officially Announced With Two Key Returning Characters

Yellowstone is officially set to continue after the upcoming “supersized” Season 5 finale; after months of rumors, it is indeed the case that Kelly Reilly’s Beth Dutton and Cole Hauser’s Rip Wheeler will be the stars of the Yellowstone spinoff after both actors formally closed deals for the new show. It is reported that other cast members from the original Yellowstone series will also be returning for the spinoff and that there will be enough significant connections between the two series that the spinoff will actually feature the word “Yellowstone” in its title.

This announcement comes as the Yellowstone Season 5B Finale is about to air. It was originally promoted as the series finale, but over the last year that messaging has gradually changed. As Yellowstone Season 5B was finally gearing up to premiere in November, the ads were selling the show’s return, not its ending. As this last batch of episodes has run, the final episode has been promoted as a “Season Finale,” which is a major backstep.

There’s been confusion about the plan for Yellowstone since Season 5A wrapped way back in January of 2023. Series star Kevin Costner wavered when the 2023 Hollywood Writers and Actors strikes interrupted Yellowstone‘s original production schedule; rumors of contract disputes started to surface, with Reilly and Wheeler’s names circulating in the press. Then there were the actors themselves: both Reilly and Wheeler made comments in the press that indicated they were circling a spinoff show focused on Beth and Rip:

“I’m so focused on finishing Yellowstone the way it needs to be finished right now — well, just the show itself,” Hauser told Country Living in May. “We’ll see where that leads. But I know that there’s some stuff on the horizon when it comes to Taylor’s ideas for Kelly Reilly and myself, and some of the other cast. I’m excited to see where he goes creatively with that. But right now it’s just: Let’s finish strong; let’s do the best we can.”

However, even with that writing on the wall, there was still confusion about whether the continuation of Beth and Rip’s stories would be counted as Yellowstone Season 6 or a spinoff series. Now we have that answer.

How the Yellowstone Season 5 Finale Is Setting Up the Spinoff (SPOILERS)

Yellowstone Season 5B has killed off Costner’s John Dutton, as well as corporate shark Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), who arranged John’s murder (framed as a suicide), and ranch hand Colby Mayfield (Denim Richards). As the season ends, Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) has offered a glimmer of hope, with a plan to stop the governor from splitting up the Yellowstone ranch and keep it in the Dutton Family’s hands.

Presumably, Yellowstone Season 5 will end with a new status quo that sees Rip and Beth continuing the power struggle and dealing with some complicated concepts of family and business.

Yellowstone airs on Paramount Network and streams on Peacock.

via Deadline