Kevin Costner Details Yellowstone Exit, Possible Return as John Dutton
Kevin Costner‘s involvement in the Yellowstone franchise has been filled with rumors and controversy, and the actor recently opened up about his time on the show and what the future holds.
Speaking to Deadline, Costner was asked about the ongoing rumors that the actor’s dedication to his upcoming movie, Horizon: An American Saga, was impeding his working time on Yellowstone and creating a divide between the cast and crew. According to Costner, that is a “lie,” and he believes he honored his contract with the show.
“That’s not true,” said Costner. “There were blocks of time that we didn’t get 10 episodes done. Basically, we were starting in April and May, and we’d usually go through August. We’d do 10. We didn’t even get 10 done during that time. I only worked 43 days. So that’s b——t. That’s a lie. That’s not correct. They sent me away for seven days to go to London, to go to England during Covid, to do [promotion]. They made the contract and they picked the days.
“Not in my mind, in the truth of the contract,” Costner continued when asked if he lived up to what Paramount had asked. “I lived up to it. In fact, I gave them 25 of my days for this B thing in November and December. What they called 5B. The whole month of March.”
Costner reveals why he wasn’t able to film Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2
Costner was also asked if he had ever finished “5B,” a likely reference to the second half of Yellowstone Season 5, which is set to premiere in November. Costner reveals he didn’t, and said the reason behind it was simply that no scripts existed, contrary to what other reports have said.
“No. I didn’t shoot 5B. There was no script,” Costner said. “And then things imploded. You’ve been reading one version [of this behind-the-scenes drama] for a year and a half. I left my movie to be on time for them for 5B. I left exactly when they wanted, and it made it hard on me. It turns out they didn’t have the scripts for 5B. They needed four more days just to complete the first eight episodes. I left early to give them what they needed to have a complete eight, and I felt bad that the audience didn’t get 10. They didn’t have the scripts for anything else. So, what you read in the end was that I said, “Well, look, I’m doing my movie. If you want me to work a week because you want to kill me or whatever else, I can give you a week.” I really didn’t have that week to give them, but I said, I’ll do that. And then they [spun that] into, I only wanted to work a week.”
Reports of his unwillingness to work angered Costner
With Costner also working on Horizon, he went on to say that he continued to try and be available for Yellowstone by giving them a week to be able to film things. However, Costner said, this got spun into reports that he was unwilling to work, something he took umbrage with.
“I’m trying to help you. You haven’t been able to meet the deadline either on the first season completely, the B thing or the sixth season,” said Costner. “There were no scripts. I said, “Look, if you want to end this elegantly, the best I can do is give you a week. And if you can figure out a storyline…” I’m usually working six or seven days per each, whatever they are. And they took that and a source on their side spun that into, well, he only wants to work a week for a whole season.
“Do you think that’s who I am? I’ve never missed a day of work. I’ve never left before fulfilling my contractual obligations. A lot of times, I stay as much as I can. In fact, I worked the nine-day stretch just to try to help them in July, when I was starting [Horizon] August 1. I worked a Saturday and Sunday for them, and they still needed four more days. I gave it to them, when I thought we were going to do this so-called B, but there was no B thing. I was just going to give ’em those extra four days. They weren’t ready to do anything with them because the scripts weren’t there. There’s a lot of product they were putting out.”
Costner is open to returning to Yellowstone
Costner would go on to express disappointment in how things were done in the lead up to his exit from the show, which he blames on the fact that Yellowstone stopped production for a season, leaving Costner with no work for 14 months.
“They were silent and that bothered me in the world of how you do things,” Costner said. “Why don’t you stick up for me? I went and sold this thing for you. I was going to only do one season. I made it for three. I fulfilled three. So, I went from one to three, then I did a fourth one for them and they wanted to do three more. So, I made the contract to do that. They imploded. I had a contract to do five, six and seven. I was contracted to do that. There’s nothing I could have done to get out of that, nor was I trying to just figure out how, when we started. When we finished, I wanted to do Horizon. It all happened because they shut down one whole season, didn’t tell anybody and I didn’t work for 14 months.”
“Didn’t have the scripts,” said Costner on why things got shut down. “And they wrote these other three shows. They don’t ever talk about that. And all they did was remember we were releasing the series in June, then it moved to October. They covered by changing their release pattern. That time was about a 14-month period. I said, “I can’t ever go through that again, where you shut down for over a year and I don’t have something in line to do.” All I did was protect myself, but I didn’t put myself in first position, over Yellowstone. I filled the gaps. Do you see that?”
Despite the strained relationship, however, Costner said he would be willing to return to the series if the right things happened.
“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,” said Costner. “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 b——-t story. I didn’t do Horizon to compete with Yellowstone.”
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