Credit: ParamountIf you thought that casting changes and production delays were the only things going wrong in the Yellowstone universe before the series concludes, bad news: the upcoming Kevin Costner movie many fans were counting on as a replacement for the beloved show has been yanked from theaters.
Yellowstone is one of the most popular television shows in the world and has become the flagship franchise for the Paramount Network, rapidly spinning off new programs set in the same world and standalones with separate themes of men in cowboy hats staring grimly at the horizon.
The series (co-created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson) debuted with a 10-episode order in 2018 and was initially a moderate success but became a sleeper hit. The Season 5 premiere garnered a staggering 12.1 million viewers, the kind of audience that more critically acclaimed series like HBO’s Succession could only dream of.
Related: Kevin Costner Breaks the News on ‘Yellowstone’ Cancellation, Unexpected Premature End
In large part, that has to do with the presence of Academy Award winner Kevin Costner as John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton family, a clan of wealthy Montana ranchers who are constantly embroiled in murder, politics, and domestic squabbles.
Along with Costner, Luke Grimes portrays Kayce Dutton, Wes Bentley is Jamie Dutton, Kelly Reilly is Beth Dutton, and Cole Hauser is Rip Wheeler, plus supporting turns by Kelsey Asbille, Gil Birmingham, Forrie J. Smith, Moses Brings Plenty and numerous others.
However, Yellowstone will be ending after the two-part Season 5, a staggering loss for the Paramount Network. There are numerous spinoff shows streaming on Paramount+, including 1883, 1923, plus the forthcoming 1944 and 2024, but none of them have the cultural momentum of the first series.
Even similar shows created by Taylor Sheridan, like Jeremy Renner’s Mayor of Kingstown, Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King, Zoe Saldaña in Special Ops: Lioness, and Billy Bob Thornton’s Land Man, have not been able to match the reach of Kevin Costner as John Dutton.
Kevin Costner unexpectedly announced his departure from his high-paying John Dutton gig on Yellowstone earlier this year, alongside the announcement that he was making a wildly ambitious four-part epic Western film series titled Horizon: An American Saga.
Costner has been vocal that the two announcements were not connected and has claimed that things were simply two chaotic behind the seasons of Yellowstone Season 5, saying, “I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December [2022]. What they called 5B. The whole month of March [2023]. I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. And then things imploded.”
Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2 is currently scheduled to begin in November after months of production delays, the effects of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, and, almost certainly, the loss of Kevin Costner as John Dutton. But it turns out that Costner is not having the success with Horizon that he expected, and Horizon: Chapter 2 has been yanked from theatrical distribution with no release date in sight.
After Horizon: Chapter 1 flopped in theaters, New Line Cinema released a statement:
“Territory Pictures and New Line Cinema have decided not to release Horizon: Chapter 2 on August 16 in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of Horizon over the coming weeks, including on PVOD and MAX. We thank our exhibition partners for their continued support as moviegoers across the US discover the film in its theatrical run.”
Related: ‘Yellowstone’ Starring Kevin Costner Content Removed
In plainer terms, Kevin Costner’s replacement for Yellowstone (which he once called a “soap opera”) has been canceled before the finale of his former series has even aired. According to Deadline, Horizon: Chapter 2 will receive a non-competitive screening at the 81st Venice Film Festival on Saturday, September 7.
This is the only currently scheduled release of the film, which, once again, is only the second part of a series of four films. The first film is estimated to have cost some $100 million, much of which was directly funded by Costner himself.
Kevin Costner is attempting to spin this festival showing as a positive, saying, “The fact that now they have decided to show Chapter 1 earlier in the day and then the world premiere of Chapter 2 that evening shows not only their belief in how the two films work together but their support of a director’s vision. I’m indebted to [festival artistic director] Alberto Barbera for his courage and leadership in committing to this cinematic journey. It is with gratitude and excitement that I return to the Venice Film Festival. Long live the movies and those willing to stand for them.”
For all the people who wanted to see Kevin Costner back in a Western role and don’t have Yellowstone anymore, it sounds like you need to book a flight to Venice.
Do you think Yellowstone Season 5 will be a satisfying conclusion to the hit series?