At this point, I think it's safe to say Kevin Costner will not appear on the half-season finale of the hit TV show Yellowstone.
To be frank, I am over the will he or won't he dance that Kevin Costner is giving fans when it comes to his return to Yellowstone. After season five took a filming hiatus in 2023 due to the writer's strike, conversations began that Costner might not return to film the second half of the series finale. With Costner noting that he gave Taylor Sheridan the time he was available to film, the timing did not work as Costner had turned his attention to his film series Horizon: An American Saga.
With filming of the show having resumed in Mayand Costner now being on a mega press tour promoting Horizon, I (personally) am not optimistic that he will return to our screens as John Dutton, which admittedly leaves a giant plot hole in the script. While he made a comment on Today that made it seem like there is still a tiny glimmer of hope, Costner most recently noted on The Howard Stern Show that if he is not able to return, the show will carry on.
"I'm not in it. I was in it for five years; I guess I could be in it again if the planets wanted to line up, which means the storyline, the scripts, and then I want to work more than once a year. To do that, times have to be set aside for things. When that couldn't happen, then that can't work for me anymore.I love the show. I went and sold it for them before it was a show. Taylor {Sheridan} wrote a beautiful script. I went overseas. I stared at 300 people, and they said, 'What is this show?' And I said, 'I don't know, I think it could be good....' I said I'd be in it for three years but then I'm not sure. I love the show. I supported it: five years of it. I'd like to go forward, but it has to be under a different set of circumstances."
Stern then noted that, to Costner's point, he has other projects that he is working on, thus needing to be accessible to pursue those avenues instead of being tied to Yellowstone's filming schedule. Although Costner's character, John Dutton, is a large portion of the script, he is confident the rest of the cast and Sheridan can wrap up the series with a bow despite his potential absence.
Stern gives Costner a hard time, asking him to be honest about whether he thinks the series will continue without him being a cast member.
"I do. I can be honest. I've been honest this whole show about stuff because that is a pack that you and I have. So I really do believe it. What happens to it? I'm not sure. But I've never taken the position of, oh, here's my leverage; the show is no good without me. I don't believe that for a f**king second. I believe it would be different."
Stern then poses a very candid question, asking Costner if he feels disrespected that Taylor Sheridan and other aspects of production are not being mindful that he is also a director and project developer, so he might need more leeway with his schedule than the other solely actors. He wonders if production is giving Costner the middle finger prioritizing his other projects, saying, "f**k you, fall in line."
"I'm not going to be the f**k you, fall in line, guy. I'm gonna be more... 'I have this opportunity, can we make this work?' And if we can't make this work, I have another life. I have tried really hard for this show and continue to try hard for it."
Then Costner makes a statement that crushed my hope for his return to the show.
"We talked one time, and we both said what was important to us. And it doesn't seem like we can meet, given what's important to us. It doesn't feel like it."
Although this feels like the most straightforward statement we have gotten regarding the drama surrounding his return to the cast, we will only know for sure when someone gives us a hard "yes" or "no" or worst-case scenario when the show airs.
If Costner does not return to the Dutton Ranch, I will be very interested to see how Sheridan writes about the disappearance of a main character.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VfOJ-LNJuQ
