'I'm disappointed': 'Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan finally talks Kevin Costner's exit

"Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan is breaking his silence about Kevin Costner's imminent exit from the hit Paramount Network drama.

Earlier this year, Costner shocked the "Yellowstone" universe and fans with plans to depart the series for work on passion projects. Costner's Yellowstone Ranch patriarch John Dutton, the cornerstone of the "Yellowstone" franchise, will come to an end with the second half of Season 5 scheduled for later this year.

"I'm disappointed," Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in a cover story interview released Wednesday, suggesting that the hard-to-kill character was never meant to be on "Yellowstone" for the whole series. "It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn't alter it, but it truncates it."

Costner will focus on his four-movie Western saga "Horizon" that he's co-writing, directing and starring in, with plans to wrap the second movie this week. The actor's work schedule between the films and the "Yellowstone" schedule has long been a source of contention. Sheridan said he has no hard feelings.

"My opinion of Kevin as an actor hasn't altered," Sheridan said. "His creation of John Dutton is symbolic and powerful … and I've never had an issue with Kevin that he and I couldn't work out on the phone. But once lawyers get involved, then people don't get to talk to each other and start saying things that aren't true and attempt to shift blame based on how the press or public seem to be reacting. He took a lot of this on the chin and I don't know that anyone deserves it. His movie seems to be a great priority to him and he wants to shift focus. I sure hope (the movie is) worth it – and that it's a good one."

How will Kevin Costner's John Dutton leave 'Yellowstone'?

Sheridan said any John Dutton death will not involve a car crash - a final, inglorious tell-off for a character infamously used to send Patrick Dempsey off "Grey's Anatomy" in 2015. But the end of the beloved Dutton, who has proven to be very hard to kill, is still undetermined.

"Whether (Dutton's fate) inflates (Costner's) ego or insults is collateral damage that I don't factor in with regard to storytelling," said Sheridan.

Dutton's departure was originally discussed as part of a six-part continuation of Season 5, scheduled for the fall and entirely dependent on the end of the writers strike. Sheridan said the send-off could take much longer, which is good news for fans.

"If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they'll give me 10," Sheridan said. "It'll be as long as it needs to be."

'Yellowstone': Paramount announces end to Kevin Costner-led Western drama, adds new sequel series

What is the 'Yellowstone' spin-off?

Paramount has announced plans for a spin-off to follow the drama series with "Yellowstone" in the title. Sheridan discussed Matthew McConaughey, who is reportedly in late discussions to star in the "new chapter."

"He seems like a natural fit," Sheridan said. "He started watching 'Yellowstone' and responded to it. He was like, 'I want to do that.' And by 'that' he meant diving into a raw world clashing up against the modern world. And then I said, 'Buddy, that we can do.'"

Sheridan surprisingly hints that the spin-off might not have John Dutton as well as many of the other popular characters, such as fan-favorite daughter Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly). It might not even take place at the famed, fictitious Yellowstone Ranch.

"My idea of a spinoff is the same as my idea of a prequel – read into that what you will," said Sheridan. "There are lots of places where a way of life that existed for 150 years is slamming against a new way of life, but the challenges are completely different. There are a lot of places you can tell this story."

Sheridan said he has only "the broadest strokes" of the spinoff worked out.

HBO turned down Costner as John Dutton, and then rejected 'Yellowstone'

Sheridan recalled that when originally pitching "Yellowstone" to HBO, the cable network turned down the idea of Costner as John Dutton.

"They said, ‘If you can get us Robert Redford, we’ll greenlight the pilot,'" Sheridan said. "I drive to Sundance and spend the day with (Redford) and he agrees to play John Dutton. I call the senior vice president in charge of production and say, ‘I got him!... You said if I got Robert Redford, you’d greenlight the show.’“

The surprise response: "We meant a Robert Redford type."

During a crisis lunch over the fate of "Yellowstone" on HBO, one not-named exec shot the Montana-based Western down.

According to Sheridan: "The vp goes, 'Look, it just feels so Middle America. We’re HBO, we’re avant-garde, we’re trendsetters. This feels like a step backward. And frankly, I’ve got to be honest, I don’t think anyone should be living out there (in rural Montana). It should be a park or something.'“

Sheridan later found a home with Paramount and the HBO rejection has not aged well to put it mildly. He used the HBO exec lines in a Season 2 episode, spoken by a snooty New York magazine writer who is later murdered by Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley).

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Yellowstone': Taylor Sheridan disappointed by Kevin Costner's exit