The whole fiasco with Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner leaving the show was something that surprised Taylor Sheridan. There was a negotiation that did not go well, and now, the show’s creator has become worried about all the misinformation that keeps on spreading in public.
All this drama could have been avoided had Sheridan stuck to his original plan. Yellowstone was supposed to be a movie, not a television series.
Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Series Was Originally Pitched As A Movie
In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Taylor Sheridan revealed Yellowstone’s original script was written as a film. He pitched the title, “The Godfather in Montana,” but HBO wanted to turn it into a series. After a string of discussions with the network, Sheridan ended up severing ties with them because they wanted to alter his story.
Yellowstone ended up debuting on Paramount Network. The series was a massive hit, and it even became the biggest show on television. Because of the demand, the project was renewed season after season.
The news that Yellowstone will end in Season 5 shocked many fans. Kevin Costner’s departure from a very successful show stirred a lot of buzz on social media. Apparently, splitting the fifth season into two parts, which would require two separate periods of filming, would affect his other project Horizon: An American Saga which he is currently helming.
Costner tried to accommodate filming for Yellowstone by adjusting his work on Horizon, but as the negotiations started, Sheridan still hadn’t finished the script. The show’s star stated via People:
“I couldn’t help them anymore. We tried to negotiate, they offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative. I tried to break the logjam. They walked away.”
Indeed, all these catastrophic negotiations would never have happened had Yellowstone been turned into a movie rather than a series. Costner would also be able to focus on his own project in peace.
Taylor Sheridan Was Not Happy With Kevin Costner’s Exit
Taylor Sheridan shared in the same interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he was disappointed with Costner’s exit. They tried to work things out for both Yellowstone and Costner’s project, but since there was still no script, they found it difficult to schedule any filming dates. Sheridan said:
“My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct. He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
Sheridan lamented Costner’s exit. They could have done more with his character, but it was too late now. He added:
“His movie seems to be a great priority to him, and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope [the movie is] worth it — and that it’s a good one… I’m disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.”
With all that said, Costner will unlikely reprise his role as John Dutton in Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, which is set to premiere in November 2024.
