Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner and the main cast of the popular Paramount series pulled out of a convention at the last minute, further fueling speculation about the departure of the main star.
Fans of the show who paid $100 for a ticket to PaleyFest, expecting to see the star-studded cast at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Saturday night, were left disappointed.
Costner and co-creator Taylor Sheridan, along with other stars from the cast including Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Asbille, Wes Betley, Gil Birmingham and Jacki Weaver, were among the screening and Q&A panel attendees. And answers. But none of them showed up.
Variety he was told that the main cast could not attend due to scheduling conflicts.
But the absences only left fans wondering if a second half of Season 5 would actually happen and if Costner would return.
Last month, Costner reportedly asked Paramount Network executives to allow him to spend just one week filming the second half of Yellowstone’s fifth season.
Yellowstone’s Kevin Costner and the main cast of the popular Paramount series left PaleyFest at the last minute, further fueling speculation about the main star’s departure.
The only cast members to show up were Josh Lucas, who plays a younger John Dutton, Mo Brings Plenty (‘Mo’), Dawn Olivieri (Sarah Atwood) and Wendy Moniz (Lynette Perry).
‘Yellowstone’ moderator Lynette Rice, Josh Lucas and Dawn Olivieri talk about the show during a panel at PaleyFest on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Costner, who recently won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of John Dutton on the show, is now directing and starring in his own multi-part epic western, Horizon, which he co-wrote with Jon Baird. It has been picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinemas.
But unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations said network executives have turned down his offer and are instead moving forward with a new spinoff series starring Matthew McConaughey.
Costner stars in Yellowstone as John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton clan, the proposal frustrated show creator Taylor Sheridan and is said to be causing moral issues among other members of the cast, which includes Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey. Asbille and Gil Birmingham, it was reported last month.
On Saturday night, the only cast members to show up to the festival were Josh Lucas, who plays a younger John Dutton, Mo Brings Plenty (‘Mo’), Dawn Olivieri (Sarah Atwood) and Wendy Moniz (Lynette Perry ).
They held a panel for fans, but did not share any details about the second half of Season 5 as nothing has been filmed. The second half of the season was supposed to air this summer, but the cast says they haven’t been given a start date for filming.
‘I have no news to report. I just know that Taylor is writing and we know that he is a prolific writer and I’m excited to see him when he arrives,’ Moniz told Yahoo Entertainment on the red carpet on Saturday night.
The cast members who came forward did not share any details about the second half of season 5 as nothing has been filmed. It is not known when the program will start again.
Fans hoping to see the stars took to Twitter to express their anger.
Representatives for PaleyFest did not immediately respond to Dailymail.com’s request for comment.
Fans hoping to see the stars took to Twitter to express their anger.
‘Yeah, as someone who paid over $100 a ticket, I’m pretty pissed off. Quite the bait and switch. People are leaving,” one person tweeted Saturday night as the panel began.
Another asked: ‘Will there be refunds for #yellowstone #PaleyFest? We drove two hours to the cast you said would be here. What a joke and scam.
Yellowstone has been a boon for the cable news network and its streaming platform.
The 68-year-old actor had asked Paramount Network executives to allow him to spend just one week filming the second half of season five while he works on his own passion project.
Costner plays John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton clan, on the hit TV show
Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Kevin Costner, Taylor Sheridan, Kelsey Asbille and Dave Annable attend the premiere of Paramount Pictures’ ‘Yellowstone’ in 2018
As Deadline reports, the success of the 1883 and 1923 prequel series, as well as expectations for upcoming shows, have made the studio less reliant on the hit series than it was just two years ago.
1883, starring country music stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott, was released in December 2021 and told the story of how the Duttons came to own the sprawling Montana-based Dutton Ranch.
It was followed the following year by 1923, starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. The show will return for a second and final season, chronicling the family’s woes during Western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.
Sheridan is also said to be planning two other limited series documenting the family’s struggles to keep the ranch in the 1940s and 1960s.