Yellowstone Creator Isn't Planning on Killing Kevin Costner's John Off
Despite the feud with the actor, Taylor Sheridan has no intention of retaliating against his character.
In May of this year, fans of the iconic neo-western series Yellowstone were shocked when Paramount announced that Kevin Costner, the star of all five seasons who played the ruthless patriarch of the Dutton family, would be leaving the project.
That led many to believe that the fate of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch would reach its inevitable conclusion with the release of Part 2 of Season 5.
Amid speculation about how the finale would play out and which of the Dutton family members would inherit the ranch, there have emerged rumours that Costner and Yellowstone-verse creator Taylor Sheridan have a very strained relationship. In a recent interview, the showrunner dispelled the rumours, saying it wasn’t personal, and that there were just some scheduling conflicts. He also insisted he had no intention of taking revenge on the character by having him killed in the most gruesome way possible.
Kevin Costner has decided to prioritise filming his own Western project, Horizon, which he has been thinking about and trying to bring to life for 35 years. It will consist of four instalments, the first of which is already in post-production, and the actor plans to present it at the Venice Film Festival in September.
As a result, he had less and less time for Yellowstone and asked the producers to reduce the amount of time he spent filming with them. This issue is particularly critical now that the script for the finale has not been completed while the dispute with Costner remains unresolved.
'I'm disappointed. It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn't alter it, but it truncates it,' the Yellowstone's All-Father said.
Although Sheridan is still working on Part 2, and Costner is clearly putting pressure on him, this does not mean that the showrunner is projecting his displeasure onto John Dutton since the vision of his fate was formed when Yellowstone was planned as a feature film.
'I don't do f--k-you car crashes,' he added, jokingly referring to the character he played on Sons of Anarchy who was run over by a van when Sheridan left the project. 'Whether [Dutton's fate] inflates [Costner's] ego or insults is collateral damage that I don't factor in with regard to storytelling.'
The show's creator holds no grudge against Costner and considers him an excellent actor who made John Dutton an incredibly profound character. The final (unless Sheridan changes his mind) season is scheduled for November, although the release will almost certainly be delayed given Sheridan's involvement in the WGA strike.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.