Yellowstone lastly returned for season 5B after a virtually two-year break — and in the end followers discovered the destiny of Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton.
Spoilers for Yellowstone forward.
Within the Yellowstone season 5B premiere on Sunday, November 10, John Dutton met his premature finish. Although regulation enforcement initially believed he died by suicide, the episode appeared to counsel Sarah Atwood (Daybreak Olivieri) was behind his homicide. By the top of the episode, she informs Jamie (Wes Bentley) that she was, in actual fact, concerned.
When the primary half of season 5 led to January 2023, John had turn out to be the governor of Montana, a lot to the chagrin of his son Jamie, who was attempting to have him impeached. On the finish of episode 8, John and his daughter, Beth (Kelly Reilly), determined it was time to take Jamie to the prepare station — i.e., kill him.
Costner, 69, formally confirmed his Yellowstone exit in June after months of hypothesis about his future with the present. The primary half of season 5 led to January 2023 with the second half set to premiere in November of that yr, however one month after the 5A finale aired, reviews circulated that Costner was holding up manufacturing due to a feud with cocreator Taylor Sheridan.
Whereas Sheridan, 54, and Costner each denied the rumors, Paramount Community confirmed in Could 2023 that Yellowstone would finish for good on the finish of season 5. The community additionally introduced a sequel sequence that on the time was rumored to star Matthew McConaughey. That sequence appears to have since become The Madison, a by-product which can star Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Fox and Patrick J. Adams.
Costner, in the meantime, has turned his focus to the large display screen, directing and performing in Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, which premiered in June. Chapter 2 was initially set to hit theaters in August, however the release date was pushed back after disappointing field workplace gross sales for Chapter 1.
Forward of Horizon’s launch, Costner broke his silence on what transpired behind the scenes, claiming that he would have filmed extra episodes of Yellowstone if the scripts had been prepared.
“I gave them 25 of my days for this B factor in November and December [2022]. What they referred to as 5B. The entire month of March [2023],” the Oscar winner informed Deadline in Could. “I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script. After which issues imploded.”
In accordance with Costner, he left the set of Horizon to movie season 5B, however he alleged there have been nonetheless no scripts readily available for the ultimate episodes.
“I left precisely once they needed, and it made it laborious on me. It seems they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They wanted 4 extra days simply to finish the primary eight episodes,” he claimed. “I left early to present them what they wanted to have a whole eight, and I felt unhealthy that the viewers didn’t get 10.”
Manufacturing on the present was additional delayed by the twin WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes final yr, which led to September 2023 and November 2023, respectively.
Sheridan, in the meantime, has remained comparatively quiet about the whole scenario, however he hinted in June 2023 that he by no means meant for John Dutton to outlive via the sequence finale — however he additionally wouldn’t kill the character in retaliation for any offscreen drama.
“I don’t do ‘f— you’ automotive crashes,” Sheridan informed The Hollywood Reporter on the time. “Whether or not [Dutton’s fate] inflates [Costner’s] ego or insults is collateral injury that I don’t think about with regard to storytelling.”
Yellowstone airs on Paramount Community Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.