{"id":106327,"date":"2025-07-31T01:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106327\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T01:48:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T01:48:13","slug":"the-original-plan-for-yellowstone-is-what-got-kevin-costner-to-sign-on-but-then-it-was-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/106327\/","title":{"rendered":"The Original Plan For Yellowstone Is What Got Kevin Costner To Sign On (But Then It Was Changed)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between 2018 and 2024, Yellowstone<\/strong><\/a> was one of the biggest and most successful serial dramas on television. But that wasn\u2019t the original plan for the show sold to its lead star, Kevin Costner. In fact, it was originally pitched as a limited series with a narrower scope for the story of the Dutton family.<\/p>\n

Costner, who ended up fronting Yellowstone\u2019s cast for almost all of its five-season<\/a> run, initially believed he was signing on for a one-year TV project. However, the show soon expanded into a multi-season drama, and continued to grow in scope along with its viewership, even spawning two prequel series and further upcoming spinoffs.<\/p>\n

Many of Yellowstone\u2019s best episodes<\/a> wouldn\u2019t have happened had co-creator and writer Taylor Sheridan not strayed from his initial plan for a limited series. Still, the neo-Western streaming behemoth became a very different show from the one Costner agreed to star in back in 2017<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Yellowstone Was Originally Pitched To Kevin Costner As A “Long Movie”<\/p>\n

It Would Have Been A Limited Series Made In The Style Of Costner\u2019s Own Westerns<\/p>\n

In a 2024 interview with People<\/a>, Costner recalled how Yellowstone had first been described to him. Taylor Sheridan\u2019s original vision for the show chimed with the legendary actor-director\u2019s own sensibilities. As Costner put it:<\/p>\n

\n

“When it was first pitched to me by Taylor, it was one season and [like] a long movie, which [is] speaking my language<\/strong>\u2026 but ultimately, I think what happened was the studio didn’t want that. And because he’s such a prolific writer, he said, \u2018I can do that. I can make a series that goes on’.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kevin Costner\u2019s own Western movies<\/a> tend to be sprawling epics that take their time telling stories with a combination of grace and grit. It\u2019s easy to see why he was so taken with Sheridan\u2019s idea for a slow-burning limited series about the Dutton ranch.<\/p>\n

If Yellowstone were Costner\u2019s creation, he would likely have insisted on making the show this way, regardless of any studio demands. But Taylor Sheridan probably wasn\u2019t in a position to argue with studio executives at the time<\/strong>, having already been rejected by HBO when he brought them his idea for the series.<\/p>\n

Kevin Costner Was On Board With Yellowstone Having More Than One Season<\/p>\n

He Signed On To Star In 3 Seasons Of The Show & Stayed For 5<\/p>\n

Ultimately, things have worked out better than Taylor Sheridan could possibly have imagined when he first shopped his pitch for Yellowstone around to various studios, and asked Kevin Costner to play its lead role. The show\u2019s 53-episode run has made it one of the most successful neo-Westerns in history<\/strong>, and laid the basis for an entire TV universe.<\/p>\n

As Costner has alluded to, Sheridan is capable of scripting dozens of TV episodes per year virtually by himself, so expanding Yellowstone into a franchise with multiple shows and seasons<\/a> was never a problem for him. The show\u2019s main writer doesn\u2019t seem to have been too attached to the idea of making it a limited series.<\/p>\n

By the time he was done playing John Dutton, the character had become one of the most iconic roles in Costner\u2019s storied acting career.<\/p>\n

Regardless of its expansion, Yellowstone retained the cinematic visual style Sheridan had first envisioned for it. What\u2019s more, Kevin Costner was very open to the series continuing for multiple seasons<\/strong>. In his words, he “stepped up,” and said, \u201cI\u2019ll do it for three seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Yellowstone became a huge small-screen hit, its main star was more than happy to carry on playing the show\u2019s chief protagonist<\/strong>. \u201cI ended up doing it for five [seasons],\u201d he added. By the time he was done playing John Dutton, the character had become one of the most iconic roles in Costner\u2019s storied acting career.<\/p>\n

How Different Yellowstone Would Have Been Had It Been A Limited Series<\/p>\n

Taylor Sheridan\u2019s Miniseries 1883 & Lawmen: Bass Reeves Give Us An Idea<\/p>\n

We can envisage how Yellowstone might have played out if Taylor Sheridan had stuck with his original plan for a limited series by looking at single-season shows that are similar in tone, setting, and premise. Sheridan himself has been involved in producing multiple limited-series Westerns<\/strong> for Paramount to run alongside his most famous show.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Yellowstone's<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tYellowstone’s Spinoff Success Proves Its Original Plan Could Have Worked Even Without Kevin Costner
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Yellowstone spinoffs 1883 and 1923 have been massively successful for Taylor Sheridan, which begs the question as to why he ended Yellowstone.<\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s the Yellowstone prequel 1883<\/strong>, which tells the story of how the Dutton family journeyed to Montana<\/strong> and founded their ranch 140 years before the events of the main series. In just 10 episodes, this beautifully shot, quietly powerful period drama starring Western acting great Sam Elliott ventures across several states and various storylines to reach its singular conclusion.<\/p>\n

Then, the eight-episode, Taylor Sheridan-produced Lawmen: Bass Reeves<\/a> gives us a completely fresh take on life in the American South during the late 19th century, from the perspective of its real-life title character. The elegant approach of this miniseries to its historical subject matter gives us an idea of how Yellowstone\u2019s story could have been told in a shorter format.<\/p>\n

Why Kevin Costner Left Yellowstone Midway Through Season 5<\/p>\n

The Actor Couldn\u2019t Wait Any Longer With Other Projects In The Pipeline<\/p>\n

Kevin Costner was more than willing to stay on as John Dutton into Yellowstone\u2019s fifth season, despite initially being led to believe that the show would be a limited series, and then signing on to play Dutton for just three seasons. However, his patience with its extended run was exhausted midway through season 5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A lengthy break in shooting between the two parts of the season led Costner to quit Yellowstone<\/a>, effectively killing off his character, John Dutton. In his interview with People, Costner described the situation in the following terms:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThere was a moment where that show for me stopped for 14 months… That’s the fact. I could have done a lot of things in that time, but I wasn’t aware that that was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Costner claimed that the 14-month delay to part 2 of Yellowstone season 5 would have prevented him from working on other projects if he\u2019d continued to wait for production on the show to recommence. His departure was announced in May 2023<\/strong>, and Taylor Sheridan\u2019s flagship neo-Western drama had to navigate its final six episodes without him.<\/p>\n

It was the right time for Yellowstone<\/strong> to end in any case, but Costner perhaps didn\u2019t go out in the way he or Sheridan would have liked. The actor is apparently game for a return to playing John Dutton, though, if the series is revived at some point in the future.<\/p>\n

\"03146271_poster_w780.jpg\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tYellowstone
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ScreenRant<\/p>\n

7\/10<\/p>\n

\n

\n Release Date<\/strong>\n <\/dt>\n
\n

\t\t\t\t2018 – 2024<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n

\n Network<\/strong>\n <\/dt>\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParamount Network<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n

\n Showrunner<\/strong>\n <\/dt>\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTaylor Sheridan<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Between 2018 and 2024, Yellowstone was one of the biggest and most successful serial dramas on television. But…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":106328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-106327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114945334161919611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}