The award-winning actor, who reportedly departed the show ahead of its second half of its fifth and final season, is said to have tried to get back on the hit Paramount western drama.
- September 16, 2023
AceShowbiz - The drama surrounding Kevin Costner and "Yellowstone" shows no sign of ending. The actor, who reportedly departed the show ahead of its second half of its fifth and final season, reportedly tried to get back on the show to no avail.
According to Puck News, via PEOPLE, Costner and his representatives attempted negotiations with Paramount and showrunner Taylor Sheridan for him to return to the Western drama. However, Costner's whirlwind negotiations reportedly fell off as they couldn't come to an agreement over the actor's demands on a disastrous phone call with Sheridan.
The demands allegedly included a "moral death" clause, meaning that Costner wanted to have a say in how his character John Dutton could be killed off the show. It was also said that Costner and his team suspected Sheridan's planned death for John Dutton would've violated the "moral death" provision. Some sources, however, debunked the allegation.
The list also included increased salary, reduced shooting schedule and the right to weigh in on Sheridan's scripts. The news outlet additionally noted that Costner's reps were "begging" for Sheridan and Paramount to have him return for season 5B as well as possibly seasons 6 and 7.
Costner has starred as John on the hit series since 2018. The star earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination and won a 2023 Golden Globe Award for his stunning portrayal of the character.
Rumors that Costner left the show first emerged in May. Previous report claimed that Kevin's departure from the show was due to disagreements between the actor and the producers over shooting schedules. He allegedly had limited himself to 65 days of shooting on "Yellowstone", before changing his mind by only wanting to film 50 days for the first part of season 5. He only wanted to spend a week filming season 5B.
Paramount later confirmed that "Yellowstone" would wrap its run with the upcoming second half of season 5, which is set to premiere in November. The series will be followed by an untitled sequel, which has received a straight-to-series order for a December debut.
