'Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come'
That was the line from Paramount, back in February of this year. Fast forward three months and it looks as though the original Yellowstone is coming to an end, but there could be life for its spin-offs, including a Matthew McConaughey vehicle, yet.
Rated by
TV Line as the most watched TV show of 2022 - it airs on terrestrial TV in the United States but concurrently streams on Paramount+ - the main show stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton and has proved wildly popular.
Producers have since spun off Yellowstone to two other offerings, set years prior, 1923 and 1883. They are both doing well and it has opened the door to as many as 10 additional projects from creator Taylor Sheridan.
It has been
reported that the main Yellowstone show will wrap after its' fifth season, which should finish its' airing run in the summer. Season five was split into two parts, with the first part appearing on screens in January.
Producers are struggling to tie down Costner,
who earns $1.2 million per episode, for a significant bulk of shooting time - his team only want to commit him to between one and three weeks of recording - so that may have hastened plans to wrap up earlier than scheduled.
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Kevin Costner pictured at a premiere in 2019. (Photo by: Zach Pagano/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)[/caption]
Matthew McConaughey set for Yellowstone involvement
While the character of John Dutton may not be checking out for good at the end of the series run, leaving room for future Kevin Costner sightings, plans are extremely advanced to bring Matthew McConaughey into this Western setting.
Paramount Media Networks head Chris McCarthy did confirm to
The Hollywood Reporter that the Interstellar and Dallas Buyers Club star would be coming into the Yellowstone universe soon. McConaughey previously had a huge TV and streaming hit with season one of True Detective.
"Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan," a Paramount Network statement read, "we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner."
The 53-year-old has recently lent his voice to characters in Sing 2 and Netflix show Agent Elvis but last appeared in a major production in 2019 - Serenity and The Gentlemen.
If you want to catch up, all four previous seasons (as well as 1883 and 1923) and the episodes of the fifth season's first part are all available to stream on
Paramount+ here.
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