News spread that star Kevin Costner was thinking about leaving the show at the same time as the event. Kevin Costner, other Yellowstone cast members, and the show’s author, Taylor Sheridan, were noticeably missing from an event at PaleyFest on Saturday. Costner, 68, and his co-stars were supposed to talk about the show on a panel during an episode screening.
Deadline said that Matthew McConaughey was in talks to act in a spinoff of the popular Paramount+ series. This happened at the same time that Costner was thinking about leaving the show to focus on directing and starring in the upcoming Western Horizon.
Initial reports said that Sheridan, EP David Glasser, Costner, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Bentley, Gil Birmingham, and Jacki Weaver would all be on the panel at the event in Hollywood’s Dolby Theater. But Josh Lucas, Dawn Olivieri, Wendy Moniz, and Mo Brings Plenty were on the final group.
At the event, Keith Cox, head of development and production for Paramount Network, said that he hoped Costner would stay on the show, but he couldn’t say for sure when filming for Season 5 might start again.
He got cheers when he said, “What I can say is that our star, the face of our show, and the executive producer are very sure he’s going to continue with our show.”
People asked the Paley Center and the Paramount Network for comments, but neither group responded right away.
Lucas, who plays Costner’s character John Dutton in flashbacks, said at PaleyFest that he thinks Sheridan has “always planned on at some point having Kevin die and having multiple people die.”
“So you know that’s just how the story goes—how the place has changed over time.” “That’s why, when you look at the cemetery and see the names of Elsa and Jacob and these other names, I think it will grow and change,” says Lucas, 51. “I think that’s what people will like the most as it goes on.” “I don’t know, Taylor might be able to tell a story about the future.”
The last-minute schedule change at the PaleyFest panel also surprised fans who were there. According to an attendee, guests started leaving as soon as they heard about the change. Variety reported that another person who went said there were no refunds, even though the group was cut down.
An agent for Paramount Network told PEOPLE in February that they wanted both McConaughey, 53, and Costner to be a part of the Yellowstone family. “We hope that Kevin Costner will always be a big part of Yellowstone.”
Following that, ViacomCBS President Chris McCarthy confirmed that McConaughey would be a part of a spin-off of the hit Paramount+ show. This show will be the latest to be based on the original. The others are the prequels 1883, which starred Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, 1923, which starred Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, and 6666.
They also told THR that the team “wouldn’t be what it is today without Kevin, and we hope that stays the case for a long time.”