After its midseason finale in January 2023, Yellowstone now comes with confirmed news in relation to its second half. However, it seems that Paramount will not budge on its decision of sealing the fate of the show after the second half of Yellowstone season 5. It’s been more than a year since its first half aired on the official network. The setback was presumably caused by the dual strikes, which disrupted the production schedules of every show and movie.
In the wake of these strikes, the streaming platforms and broadcast networks have already released the tentative production schedules of the halted shows and movies, including Yellowstone. Variety reported that the fifth season of this blockbuster Paramount Network show will resume production on the final episodes in late spring 2024. Post this most recent production update, no modification has been announced in regards to the release date.
Yellowstone release date window
The first half of season 5 constituted eight episodes, which debuted in November 2022, with a mid-season finale wrapping up on January 1, 2023. Initially, the show was announced to have six more episodes to complete the fourteen-episode order of season 5.
In June 2023, while in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Sheridan announced that the final half of Yellowstone season 5 will plausibly have ten episodes, amounting to a total of 18 episodes. He said, “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10. It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”
On November 2, 2023, Paramount announced that the final episodes of Yellowstone are scheduled to air in November 2024. Appeasing the interminable wait for the second half of the season, the official network unveiled the plan for two new spinoff series – 1944 and a more modern series titled 2024. Both of them will reportedly be reproduced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios.
According to Town & Country Magazine, 2024 seems to be the ‘sequel series’ which was ordered and was reported by Variety to make its debut on Paramount Network in December and later on Paramount +.
During the announcement, President/CEO of Showtime & MTV Entertainment Studios, Chris McCarthy, said, “Within five years, we grew Yellowstone from a hit U.S. cable show with five million viewers into a global hit franchise with over 100 million fans around the world and multiple extensions – and, we’re just getting started. On the heels of 1883 and 1923’s success, our new planned spinoffs, 1944 and 2024, will take audiences on a thrilling, new and unexpected journey with the complex and compelling storytelling that has become a hallmark of the franchise and has helped turn it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon—thanks to the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.” (courtesy of Town & Country Magazine)
Yellowstone season 5 will seal the fate of the show
Earlier in May 2023, Paramount announced, much to the disappointment of the show’s fans, that Yellowstone will be officially ending with the final episodes of the fifth season, which are scheduled to land in November 2024.
The announcement of the series’ ending comes in the wake of star Kevin Costner leaving the show due to their choice of splitting the fifth season into two parts, which required separate filming periods. As a consequence, he was not able to accommodate and give time to the two-part Western feature Horizon, in which he is writing, directing, and starring.
Per Variety, the first part is scheduled to be released in June 2024, followed by the second in August of the same year.
People reported that, according to Costner, there was a “long, hard-fought negotiation”, over the decision. The 68-year-old actor also admitted that he had altered his schedule on Horizon to give time to the first half of Yellowstone season 5. However, he shared that with the onset of negotiations, “no scripts (were) written” for the second half.
Not only that, but Costner also revealed that during the negotiations, “they offered me less money than previous seasons, there were issues with the creative…”
With Costner leaving the show, Paramount Media Networks head Chris McCarthy announced in March that the Yellowstone-verse will be starring Matthew McConaughey in the new spin-off. The exec said, “Yellowstone wouldn’t be what it is today without Kevin and we hope that that stays for a long time to come.”
However, at the time of writing this article, the possibility of Costner appearing in the final episodes of season 5 is still up in the air. As per the documents procured by Insider in July 2023, the actor wrote, “I will earn substantially less in 2023 than I did in 2022. This is because I am no longer under contract for Yellowstone, the principal source of income.”
Although it explains his replacement by McConaughey for the spin-offs, it leaves the question of his appearance in the final episodes still unanswered.
Yellowstone spin-offs: 1944 and 2024
The creators have still kept additional details of the developing Yellowstone spin-offs under wraps. As previously mentioned, 2024 will star Matthew McConaughey and is announced by Town & Country Magazine to be a “long-gestating project.”
According to Deadline, 2024 “will follow the conclusion of Yellowstone.” In addition, the outlet also reports that McConaughey “is expected to be joined by a handful of original Yellowstone cast members.” However, at the moment, the cast of the spin-offs has been kept under wraps.
Not much has been revealed about 1944 (working title). However, Deadline had previously reported that the possibility of a spin-off based in the ‘40s was being planned out back in October 2022. It seems that the creators want to continue telling the story of the Dutton family history since they have already released other spin-offs, 1883 and 1923, with the latter currently in the works for a second season.
CEO of 101 Studios, David Glasser, said, “The Dutton story continues, picking up where Yellowstone leaves off in another epic tale. We are thrilled to bring this new journey to audiences around the world.”
Reruns of Yellowstone are currently being aired on CBS. It was co-created by Sheridan and John Linson. Furthermore, John Linson, Art Linson, Sheridan, Costner, Glasser, Bob Yari, Stephen Kay, and Christina Voros serve as the executive producers of the show. The show follows the life of the Dutton family and their expansive cattle ranch in Montana.