After over a year hiatus, Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 has begun production in Montana. The Western drama series approaches its close with the final episodes set to land in November later this year.
Four and a half seasons of the Taylor Sheridan series have followed the Dutton Family, led by patriarch Kevin Costner’s John Dutton, who oversees the largest cattle ranch in the modern-day United States. The Dutton family faces constant challenges from those at its borders — the growing Bozeman, Montana, the fictional Indian reservation of Broken Rock and America’s first national park.
With several prequel series and a contemporary spinoff in the works, the original installment was originally set to conclude at the end of 2023, but the WGA and SAG strikes delayed production on the final episodes.
Read on for what we know about Yellowstone Season 5 Part II:
Has Yellowstone Season 5 Part II begun production?
The Paramount Network announced in May that the second half of the final installment began production in Montana.
When will Yellowstone Season 5 Part II come out?
The final episodes are slated to unfold on the Paramount Network starting November 10, 2024 at 8 p.m. Internationally, Yellowstone will premiere on Paramount+ in Canada on November 10th, the U.K. on November 11th and in Latin America, Brazil and France later in November.
How many episodes will be in Yellowstone Season 5 Part II?
Six episodes are projected to wrap up the original installment, but creator Taylor Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter that he felt Paramount could give him 10 episodes if need be.
Will Kevin Costner return for Yellowstone Season 5 Part II?
Costner helmed the mothership show before he departed about a year ago to ultimately work on Horizon: An American Saga, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and hits theaters in June.
He revealed via social media after the Paramount Network announced the official return date that he won’t be returning for the final episodes of the western series.
“I 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, that I know you love, I just realized that I’m not going to be able to continue Season 5B or into the future,” he said. “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 and I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop and I’ll see you at the movies.”
Costner did shed some light on what happened behind the scenes with negotiating a new contract for his role and changes to the show’s arc.
In a recent interview with People, the actor expressed disappointment over how none of his former co-stars came to his defense when the original narrative surrounding his absence was solely blamed on his inflexible filming schedule for Horizon: An American Saga. Luke Grimes told The Independent that he understood the decision.
“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 a little bit about what the real truth of it was. I made a contract for seasons five, six and seven,” he told Deadline. “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.”
How many Yellowstone prequels are there?
The show has two prequels available to watch — 1883 and 1923.
1923, which stars Harrison Ford as John Dutton and Helen Mirren as Cara Dutton as they navigate the early 20th century west in the era of Prohibition, pandemics and drought. The prequel was renewed for a second season, but the strikes in the summer of 2023 delayed production.
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Sheridan hinted at two seasons to tell the complete story, and that likely means eight more episodes.
The series also stars Brandon Sklenar, Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph, James Badge Dale, Marley Shelton, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Jerome Flynn and Julia Schlaepfer.
1883 stars Sam Elliott as Shea Brennan, Tim McGraw as James Dutton, Faith Hill as Margaret Dutton, Isabel May as Elsa Dutton who narrates, LaMonica Garrett as Thomas, Marc Rissmann as Josef, Audie Rick as John Dutton Sr. and more.
This series follows the Dutton ancestors’ journey west through the Great Plains toward unclaimed frontiers. Sheridan had that full series blocked out in his head in one season, plus the ending of the season doesn’t really leave room for another one as Sam Elliott’s character dies by suicide.
“The story I heard is Bob Bakish watched it and said, ‘Wait a minute, she dies! They all die? What do we do in season two?’” Sheridan told Deadline. “I said, there is no season two. They’re like, there better be a fu*king season two because we already picked it up. I’m sitting here going, ‘Guys everyone is dead.”
One more prequel with the working title 1944 could expand the world as well.
Will there be more Yellowstone spinoffs?
Sequel spinoff 2024 will carry on the contemporary timeline of the franchise. In February 2023, Deadline exclusively reported the news that Matthew McConaughey was in talks to star in the latest installment of the Dutton saga.
