Yellowstone: Kevin Costner is officially exiting the series after Season 5

Kevin Costner is departing from Yellowstone after Season 5. The actor’s exit from the mega-popular drama is unsurprising after reports of alleged issues between Costner and Yellowstone series co-creator Taylor Sheridan started making headlines. Reportedly, Costner and Sheridan argued about scheduling, leaving the show’s fate in limbo. News about Costner’s exit comes from ET, who says, “there is still no update on when the cast and crew are going to return to Montana, where the series is filmed on location.” The show still needs to wrap the remaining episodes of Season 5, and Costner was reportedly gumming up the works.

The news about Costner’s exit from Yellowstone comes after headlines stating that the actor’s wife, Christine Baumgartner, is filing for divorce after 18 years of marriage.

“It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action.”

“We ask that his, Christine’s, and their children’s privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time,” Costner’s rep added.

While the Costner drama ramped up, Sheridan announced a new project set in the Yellowstone canon with Matthew McConaughey. “Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built,” Paramount said in a previous statement.

Talk of Matthew McConaughey joining the ever-expanding Yellowstone franchise was first teased earlier this year, with a Paramount Network executive saying, “Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”

Character and plot details remain a mystery, but actress Dawn Oliveri (who played Claire Dutton in Yellowstone) said, “The names will change, hotness factors will shift, Matthew McConaugheys will appear, it’ll just be whatever it needs to be.”

With Costner leaving Yellowstone, he’ll be free to concentrate on his upcoming passion project, Horizon: An American Saga. The project chronicles a multi-faceted, 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West.

Kevin Costner will start shooting Horizon by late August with a shooting schedule of 220 days. The Western will be Kevin Costner’s first time directing a movie since Open Range in 2003. He also directed The Postman and Dances with Wolves, the latter of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Director.

What do you think about Costner leaving Yellowstone after Season 5? Will the franchise be the same without him? Are you looking forward to McConaughey’s Yellowstone project? Let us know in the comments below.