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Why did Kevin Costner leave Yellowstone? Why was John Dutton killed off? How did we get here? Indeed, Costner left the neo-Western drama ahead of its last batch of episodes, with Season 5’s “A Knife and No Coin” marking his final appearance on camera. But while some have speculated that there was bad blood involved in John Dutton’s death, it was nothing of the sort. Yes, John Dutton is dead, and no, Kevin Costner is not returning to Yellowstone, and here’s why…
Kevin Costner Had Commitments Beyond ‘Yellowstone’
When Yellowstone first started, Kevin Costner had agreed originally to do seven seasons of the show. According to the actor in his interview with GQ, he had originally signed on to the Paramount Network drama for three seasons before re-negotiating for up to seven. But the network continued to delay production (because of a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic), which resulted in even more contract re-negotiations. “We very rarely started when we said we would and we didn’t finish when we said we would,” he explained. “And I was okay with that. I really was. I was okay with it, but it wasn’t a trend that could continue for me.”
While the actor was initially signed on to do both parts of Season 5 (and potentially more), three additional production delays finally made it impossible for Costner to stick around. You see, the filmmaker had been trying for quite some time to get his own four-part Western epic film, Horizon: An American Saga, off the ground. He worked closely with the Yellowstone production to make sure that he could do both and fought to film Horizon in the gaps when he wasn’t playing John Dutton. It was only when the Paramount drama made that impossible that Costner had to make a choice. “I didn’t really have to leave anything behind, the gaps were there,” the Western star explained on The Michael Smerconish Program the day after Yellowstone returned in November 2024. “But because both things are contractual, you have to make room for the other thing.”
Prior to the release of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, Costner revealed that “Horizon was set in the middle, but Yellowstone was first position. I fit [Horizon] into the gaps. They just kept moving their gaps.” When Costner’s Horizon did poorly at the box office, the Western legend continued to champion his latest passion project. There are reportedly set to be four more Horizon films, each further expanding on the history of the mythic American West, and presenting a new sort of Western saga much greater in both size and scale than even the Yellowstone prequel, 1883. Nevertheless, Costner had previously seemed open to returning, but given that Yellowstone killed John Dutton off (for good this time), it seems highly unlikely.
John Dutton Was Killed To Get Hold of His Land on ‘Yellowstone’
As for why or how John Dutton was actually killed, well, if you remember from Season 5A, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) and his new squeeze, the Market Equities lawyer Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri), briefly talked about potentially hiring a professional to get involved. But while Jamie was just spit-balling ideas, Sarah took his thoughts literally. In the Season 5B premiere, “Desire Is All You Need,” it’s revealed that Sarah hired contract killers to break into the governor’s mansion in Montana to make John’s death look like a suicide. But, as we see in “Three Fifty-Three,” it was actually more of an execution. A group of three unknown assassins broke into John’s new home, subdued him, and used his old service pistol to shoot him in the head.
It was a cold-blooded murder but masterfully staged to look like the Dutton patriarch had killed himself. Of course, neither Kayce (Luke Grimes) or Beth (Kelly Reilly) believe that their father would actually commit suicide. From the get-go, it seems clear to at least Beth that Jamie is somehow involved. But it’s not until Kayce looks over the body himself that he discovers cause to get the state to open the investigation back up, labeling John’s death no longer as a suicide, but a homicide. With this, Yellowstone set the stage for its final episodes to center on solving John’s murder and for the remaining Duttons to get their final revenge on all parties responsible.
‘Yellowstone’ Will End the Way It Was Always Intended, Even Without Kevin Costner’s John Dutton
Although it was maybe not the heroic, exciting, or perhaps redemptive ending that we hoped for John Dutton, it was always Taylor Sheridan‘s plan to finish his story in this way. When speaking with The Hollywood Reporter back in June 2023, the Yellowstone showrunner and co-creator made it clear that, while his opinion of Kevin Costner as an actor hasn’t changed, neither was John Dutton’s ultimate fate. Aside from the fact that he didn’t take Costner into account when penning these final episodes, Sheridan noted even back then that this was always how things would end for the series’ lead. “I’m disappointed,” Sheridan admitted about Costner’s exit. “It truncates the closure of his character. It doesn’t alter it, but it truncates it.” It’s hard to tell exactly how John Dutton’s ending would have been different with Costner around for more seasons — since cutting out two seasons does seem like a big change — but it certainly would’ve been more satisfying.
Likewise, series stars Luke Grimes and Kelly Reilly have both explained that Costner’s exit isn’t changing the way this story ends. “The absence was part of the ending,” Reilly told Entertainment Weekly ahead of time. “That’s not something that we had to pivot; it was already written into the tapestry of the story. It was always going to happen, it just unfolded a little differently.” That’s good news, and it means that Yellowstone can look to the future instead of stalling in the past. Grimes felt similarly, noting that Costner’s absence marked Yellowstone‘s end. “I think the patriarch leaving was always going to be part of the story,” he elaborated to People. “That’s always where it was headed is like, what do these kids do? What does this family do when their rock is gone?”
The good news is that Yellowstone‘s ending seemingly hasn’t been hindered by Kevin Costner’s lack of involvement. As the filmmaker moves on to new horizons (sorry, had to), Sheridan and company have crafted a finale six years in the making. While this won’t be the end of the Yellowstone Universe as a whole — there’s still another season of 1923 in the works, and plenty of spin-offs/prequels like 1944, 6666, and The Madison as well — it does mean that the flagship series is over. While it’s fair to be disappointed that Costner isn’t a part of the final batch of Yellowstone episodes, this seems like a sorry case of “nobody’s fault.” John Dutton may be death, but Kevin Costner lives on, and so does the Western itself. That alone is enough to see the story fade into the sunset.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 airs Sundays on Paramount Network. Previous seasons can be streamed on Peacock.
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