Kevin Costner talks about leaving Yellowstone, quashes rumors about doing it for his movie 'Horizon'

Modified May 15, 2024 01:35 GMT

CinemaCon 2024 - Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation — Kevin Costner (Image via David Becker/Getty Images)

Kevin Costner set the record straight following his unexpected exit from the hit Paramount series Yellowstone last year, leading to showrunner Taylor Sheridan ending the series far earlier than planned.

In a recent conversation with Deadline, published May 13, Costner shared more about the exit, clarifying that his movie Horizon has got nothing to do with it.

“I made a contract for seasons five, six, and seven. In February, after a two- or three-month negotiation, they made another contract. They wanted to redo that one, and instead of seasons six and seven, it was 5A and 5B, and maybe we’ll do six. They weren’t able to make those.”

Kevin Costner (Image via Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

He added:

“They made the contract and they picked the dates.”

Kevin Costner also mentioned that the reported lack of a script was a significant reason for his earlier “exit” on the show, stating that “they didn’t have a script for 5B” and that he fulfilled his contract, leaving “exactly when they wanted.”

It was previously reported that Costner is leaving the show due to a “scheduling conflict” with Horizon. However, Kevin Costner opened up to Deadline about the reason for the overlapping schedule.

“[And] I’m not a person who is [inflexible]; every season we didn’t start on time and every season we went over. I dealt with that through seasons one, two, three, and four, and didn’t say a word.”

He added:

“[But] in my instance, I have real obligations. I had 400 people waiting for me on August 1.”

Moreover, Costner was insistent that he didn’t favor making Horizon over the series. The actor said:

“Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving the gaps. They had first position. I didn’t do Horizon because I was tired of doing Yellowstone. That’s a bullsh*t story. I didn’t do Horizon to compete with Yellowstone.”

“Why didn’t you stick up for me?” — Kevin Costner gets candid about Yellowstone production

When prompted to speak about Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan writing a lot of other shows, Kevin Costner said that it’s fine. However, he was also candid about the thing that bothered him during the production. He stated:

“[But] they were silent and that bothered me in the world of how you do things. Why didn’t you stick up for me? I went and sold this thing for you.”

The actor added:

“When we finished, I wanted to do Horizon. It all happened because they shut down one whole season, didn’t tell anybody and I didn’t work for 14 months.”

When asked about why the show was shut down, Costner again said that the lack of scripts was the reason.

“Didn’t have the scripts. And they wrote these other three shows.”

Talking about the show shutting down for over a year, leaving him without anything in line to do, Kevin Costner admitted that it is not something he wants to experience again:

“All I did was protect myself, but I didn’t put myself in first position, over Yellowstone. I filled the gaps. Do you see that?”

Despite the entire fiasco with Yellowstone ending in Season 5, Kevin Costner revealed that he is not closing doors when it comes to reprising his role as Montana landowner John Dutton in the series. He said:

“I’m very open to coming back. If they’ve got so many other things going on, maybe this circles back and it’s really cool two seasons. Or end it, if the writing’s there and I’m happy with it. I’m open to that.”

That said, he also mentioned getting a beating with people “not speaking up” for him, which he admitted, didn’t make him happy. However, he stated that if the writing is there, he will be too.