Kevin Costner has explained the significant delays to his TV series Yellowstone.
The future of the Western TV show was thrown into question in early 2023 over rumours of tension between Costner and series creator Taylor Sheridan over the actor’s lack of availability.
In May 2023, it was confirmed that the show would conclude with the second half of season five, which will premiere in November, two years after the first half aired.
During a conversation on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the actor, who played John Dutton in the show, explained that he started his own projects because there were frequent delays on Yellowstone.
“It’s just, things happen with a show. There was a season that we shut down completely, and no one really knows about it,” he shared. “About a month before we started filming, we didn’t film. And we went another 14 months before we came back… And I thought to myself, ‘I can’t let that happen to me again.’ You know? Because you can’t just pick up another job.”
Following this experience, Costner made his own work by co-writing, directing and starring in his Horizon film saga in the breaks of Yellowstone’s production schedule.
“I thought, ‘Well, if it happens once it could happen again. I need to put myself in a position where it doesn’t happen,’” he explained on the podcast. “Yellowstone was important to me, it’s still important to me, I put it in first position, and I decided that I would make Horizon between the raindrops.”
However, production on Yellowstone was pushed back again and it clashed with the Horizon filming schedule.
“Somewhere along the line, they couldn’t follow their dates. And I had 400 people waiting for me, and my own money there,” he lamented. “And so a series that I gave all my attention to for five seasons, I still was prepared to do that but I couldn’t break my word with actors that I made promises with and a promise I made to myself.”
Filming is now underway on the final episodes of season five. The first Horizon film will be released in June.
