The Big Picture

• Kevin Costner clears the air on his Yellowstone exit fiasco, revealing the true contract details.
• Costner expresses interest in returning to Yellowstone, but certain conditions must be met.
• Horizon is Costner's passion project, and could result in financial hit if it fails.

Yellowstone was red-hot in ratings, viewership, and conversation when the shocking news that it would end in Season 5 came out. In the subsequent weeks, reports came out that the reason behind the abrupt end was because series star Kevin Costner was not interested in doing the show anymore. It was reported that he wanted to reduce filming hours to focus on his movie, Horizon: An American Saga. Costner is shopping it at Cannes, and Deadline caught up with him to talk about it. He talked about how it was his life's labor to get the movie made. He had been working on it for years and put much of his own money into it. When asked about the Yellowstone fiasco that was subject to so much discussion, Costner said that a lot of untruths about the ordeal had been reported and set that record straight, saying,

"Well, I haven’t felt good about it the last year, what with the way they’ve talked about it. It wasn’t truthful. So now I’m talking about a little bit about what the real truth of it was. 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. Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps."

Costner's Future in 'Yellowstone'

The fate of the Dutton patriarch is yet to be decided, even as the cast reportedly returns to Montana this month. Costner has expressed interest in returning, but none of that has been inked. Despite the apparent friction between him and creator Taylor Sheridan, Costner is open to working with him again. Horizon: An American Saga has taken Costner's blood, sweat, and tears to make. If the film fails, he told Deadline that he might sustain a serious financial hit. When it was suggested by the publication that he could return to Yellowstone as an actor for the paycheck, he replied, "Yellowstone was really good. Hatfields & McCoys, that was good." Costner starred in the latter for one season.

Costner cleared himself of any blame, saying that his contractual obligations were met even if production demanded more of him. He said that he was honest with Sheridan about everything. Concerning the future, Costner is open to coming back, but some conditions must be met. He opened up about that, saying,

I’m very open to coming back. If they’ve got so many other things going on, maybe this circles back and it’s a really cool two seasons. Or end it, if the writing’s there and I’m happy with it. I’m open to that. But I took a beating over these guys not speaking up for me and allowing crazy stories to come out.

I’m not happy about that. But if the writing is there, I will be there too. 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. This is something I’ve had a long time. Taylor read that script three years earlier when he was contemplating other writers [for Yellowstone]. I said, well, you can look at what John [Baird] and I did, not that I think I’m qualified. I think you write Yellowstone beautifully.

So, he read that and knew what the thing was about. It’s just that simple: Paramount and 101 Studios mismanaged this. They had me for five, six, and seven. I agreed to do it. And then they steadily began changing their format. And what about the year that went missing? That 14 months?

All four seasons and a half of Yellowstone are available on Peacock.

WATCH ON PEACOCK