In what appears to be a negotiating impasse with series star Kevin Costner, Paramount issued a staunch denial of a Deadline report that it plans to end its mega-hit modern Western show Yellowstone and launch a spinoff starring Matthew McConaughey.
“We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone, and we hope that's the case for a long time to come," Paramount said. "Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner."
With the show currently in production on the back half of season 5, the Penske Showbiz Trade Conglomerate publication reported that creator Taylor Sheridan and his producing team have become impatient with star Kevin Costner's shooting schedule demands.
With his own film projects said to be competing for his time, Costner, who plays patriarch John Dutton on Sheridan's flagship series, is said to have originally agreed to committing 65 days to shooting the eight front end episodes of Yellowstone: Season 5, but then demanded that the limit be brought down to 50 days.
For the six remaining season 5 episodes that are currently in production, Costner only wanted to commit to being on set for a week, Deadline reported.
The producers are said to currently be in negotiations with McConaughey ... with whom, Paramount even admitted, it would love to partner up with.
Launched on the Paramount Network in 2018, Yellowstone has grown into a ratings powerhouse and now serves as the hub on a growing wheel of spinoff shows, including recently launched hits 1883 and 1923.
Sheridan's empire, meanwhile, has expanded into other realms of star-powered macho melodrama with Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King.
Sheridan's Yellowstone spinoffs debut on Paramount Network and other Paramount pay TV channels before streaming on Paramount Plus.
Notably, however, Paramount sold exclusive domestic streaming rights to Yellowstone to NBCUniversal and Peacock. So rebooting the modern, forward-looking component of the YCU (Yellowstone Creative Universe?) would enable Par to maintain the entire narrative on Paramount Plus.
