For weeks, the future of Yellowstone has been hanging in the balance after actor Kevin Costner allegedly locked horns with the show’s creator, Taylor Sheridan. However, the cause of the rumored conflict has remained unknown ⏤ until now.
Per Entertainment Tonight, journalist Matthew Belloni revealed what’s happening behind the scenes on the show. He says disputes with the star have defined the fifth season. The cause of the disagreement is planning and financial considerations, and according to Belloni, Costner is unyielding about his availability to shoot new episodes of the series:
“Kevin Costner is famously headstrong and he has been at odds with Taylor Sheridan, the creator of this show, for months now over the days that he’s gonna be shooting for the next part of the season.”
Belloni says that Costner’s formidable ego makes him uncompromising. The star is also said to be preoccupied with another project, Horizon, a Western he plans to direct.
“”He really wanted to put that in front of Yellowstone, and the producers of Yellowstone said, ‘Hey, the show is your first priority, we’re paying you a lot of money to do this show.’ And Kevin just was very headstrong and wanted his way.”
Costner’s lawyer pushed back against the reports about his client’s alleged scheduling demands, describing the claims as false and untrue. He pointed out that the star is committed to the show and has gone to great lengths for it to do well.
Belloni added that Costner is legally bound to shoot for an allotted period and is unwilling to work beyond the days he has already agreed to, unless he receives financial compensation.
“He is taking the position that, for anything outside of his contractually obligated time during shooting, he should be paid extra for it.”
The Oscar-winner is currently the highest-paid actor on television, reportedly earning an eye-popping $1.2 million per episode of the series, plus a kickback that sees him earn over $20 million per season. If Paramount renews Yellowstone for another run, his earnings per episode will jump to $1.5 million.
Belloni explains that Costner’s financial demands to shoot the remaining episodes of season 5 have rubbed the show’s producers the wrong way, and the battle has thrown the future of the show into flux, and it’s unclear if the star will return to shoot his scenes for the remaining episodes.
“Yellowstone is really in limbo right now until they can figure out whether Costner is coming back or, more likely, whether he’s going to be written out of the show, Once that determination is made, they can finish writing the second half of this season, shoot it, and it will likely air in the fall.”
It would be a tremendous loss if Costner left the show. His exceptional finesse in the role of John Dutton is the soul of the Yellowstone universe. Whether the series can hold on to its status as the most popular hit on television without him remains to be seen.