Kevin Costner has officially confirmed that he will not be returning to Yellowstone, just hours after Paramount Network announced the premiere date for the show's final six episodes.
The second half of Yellowstone's fifth and final season will premiere on November 10, but Costner's John Dutton will not be a part of it. The actor posted a video on Instagram on Thursday to break the news to his fans and finally put an end to the long-running speculation about his future on the show and its numerous spin-offs.
"I just want to reach out and let you know that after this long year and a half of working on Horizon and doing all the things that's required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love and I know you love, I just realized that I'm not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future," Costner announces in the video. "It was something that really changed me. I loved it, and I know you loved it. And I just wanted to let you know that I won't be returning. I love the relationship that we've been able to develop, and I'll see you at the movies."
Yellowstone chronicles the lives of the Dutton family, led by patriarch cowboy John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. Drama and political intrigue ensue as the ranch faces conflict with those it borders — an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and America's first national park.
The series first premiered in 2018 and quickly became a runaway hit, and it has managed to maintain its popularity as people found themselves invested in the Dutton family saga. The fifth season broke multiple records, with its first episode accruing 12.1 million viewers to become the top scripted series premiere of 2022.
Paramount announced last November that it had pushed back the release date for the final episodes of Yellowstone to November 2024 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, and questions about Costner's future on the series continued to swirl as scheduling issues reportedly arose from his two-part Western epic Horizon: An American Saga.
Production for the final episodes of Yellowstone began last month in Montana, while work is also underway on two spin-offs with the working titles of 1944 (a prequel) and 2024 (a sequel).
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
