It looks like Yellowstone isn’t getting taken to the train station after all.
According to industry newsletter Puck, the Western drama will return for a sixth season after Paramount Network previously announced that season 5B would be the show’s final installment. The outlet reports that Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, who play Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, respectively, are close to signing deals to return for season 6.
The report comes as a shock to Yellowstone fans who had resigned themselves to saying goodbye after season 5B premieres in November — without Kevin Costner, who played John Dutton on the series since it debuted in 2018. After rumors of Costner’s exit began circulating in early 2023, Paramount confirmed in May of that year that Yellowstone would end for good with the second half of season 5. (The first half concluded in January 2023.)
Production on season 5B was subsequently delayed because of the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but Paramount confirmed in June that the new episodes would begin airing on November 10.
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In the meantime, plenty of other Yellowstone news has kept fans spinning as they await the return of the Dutton family. First there were reports that Yellowstone would continue in a sequel series starring Matthew McConaughey, possibly titled 2024. That show has seemingly become The Madison, which will star Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox and follow a family of New Yorkers who move to Montana.
Then there was a report that Reilly, Hauser and Luke Grimes were in talks for their own spinoff, followed by rumors that they’d return as their Yellowstone characters on The Madison. Paramount also previously announced a spinoff set at the Four Sixes ranch as well as another prequel series titled 1944, but further updates on those have been few and far between.
Throughout all of this, the cast has played coy about what’s happening with the franchise, with Reilly, 47, telling fans in March not to “believe everything” they read.
“I just care about finishing [the OG series] with as much care and as much passion and as much love as I can muster to put into it,” she told Radio Times. “I’m sort of prepping for that now, [and] that’s my tunnel-vision thing that I care about most.”
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Costner, meanwhile, has made it clear that he’s not coming back to the show. While there have been reports about tension between Costner and cocreator Taylor Sheridan, Costner has maintained he is focused on his four-part film series, Horizon: An American Saga.
“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 of the things that’s required, and thinking about Yellowstone, that beloved series that I love and I know you love,” the Oscar winner, 69, said in a video shared via Instagram in June. “I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue season 5B or into the future. It was something that really changed me. I loved it. And I know you loved it. I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning. I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Yellowstone season 5B premieres on Paramount Network Sunday, November 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
