We finally have some answers about Yellowstone‘s future—but, as is to be expected with a show known for its behind the scenes drama, it’s complicated. Last year, Paramount announced

that the show will conclude after the second half of season five, and when those episodes will debut: November 10, 2024.

However, in August 2024, it was confirmed that stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, who play Beth and Rip on the series, are in talks to reprise their roles for a sixth season! While no deal

has been struck yet, it’s the first sign of hope that there could be even more Yellowstone coming. Nonetheless, recent cast interviews have thrown that possibility into question, with some of

the stars (including Reilly) indicating this is indeed the end.

As for the second half of season 5, now known as 5B, information has been slow to reveal itself. In August, Paramount dropped the first official teaser trailer, and things are looking tense on the ranch. Watched the teaser here:

They followed it up in September with a video featuring behind the scenes interviews with the stars speaking on what filming has been like, and the secretive nature of the production.

Explaining how heavily redacted the scripts were in order to maintain secrecy about the plot, actress Jen Landon said, “Basically everything is blacked out except for your lines.” Dawn Olivieri agreed, adding, “I don’t know what she did, she doesn’t know what I did. We can’t tell each other.” The hidden nature of the storylines should result in “tons of surprises,” for audiences, according to the creative team.

Watch the full video below:

Here’s everything we know about Yellowstone season five.

When will season five return?

The second half of season 5, which will now mark the final batch of episodes of Yellowstone, will debut on Paramount Network on November 10, 2024 at 8 p.m. with an encore broadcast on CBS at 10 p.m.

In March 2024, Ian Bohen, who plays cowboy Ryan on the series, gave a hint at the show’s timeline. In an interview with ET, Bohen revealed, “We will go back, rumor has it, in May. We should be on in November, roughly.” Those dates clearly aren’t set in stone, though, because the actor quickly added, “You’re gonna have to give me some leeway on that. It’s not gonna be sooner than that. It could be June. We shoot six episodes… November… maybe December, and then we go through the holidays, and then maybe season finale…series finale, maybe on Super Bowl, and that will be the end of an era.”

As for the finale itself, Bohen shared his feelings, saying, “It’s like going to college and grad school with the same people for six or eight years, and you’re like, ‘Wait, we have to go? Then what are we gonna do next? It feels empty and weird so I’m gonna try to wring out every second of it.”

Paramount originally confirmed that the show would be returning some time in the summer of 2023, a date that was later moved to November, and then December, before finally being announced for November 2024.

The first images from the season promise drama.

In late August, new pictures offered our first look at what’s in store for the Duttons. (See all the photos here.)

Kayce, Monica, and Tate look to be sticking together in their own small family.

Jamie is stepping up to the political podium. Is it to announce some news about Governor John Dutton? Only time will tell.

Is this the last season?

Following the exit of Kevin Costner it was revealed that Yellowstone not will get a sixth season. The announcement of show’s ending was the culmination of several tense months of speculation about the show’s future. In early February 2023, Deadline reported on rumors that Yellowstone might be ending, writing, “The crux of the issue with the original Yellowstone series involves star Kevin Costner and disagreements over shooting schedules. We are told Paramount Network has declined Costner’s most recent proposal and instead has made the decision to move on to the other show, sources said.”

However, after months of build-up to Yellowstone’s finale, in August 2024, it was revealed that the network and stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are, in fact, in talks to bring the show back for another season, so consider this question very much up in the air. Subsequent comments by the actors themselves have only muddied the waters as to the show’s future—no official updates have been provided by the series executives or the network.

How many episodes will there be?

The first half of the fifth season of Yellowstone debuted in November of 2022 and wrapped up with a mid-season finale in January, with the promise of six more episodes to round out the show’s super-sized, fourteen episode fifth season. However, actor Josh Lucas, who plays the younger version of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton in flashbacks, has indicated that there could be even more episodes coming that previously anticipated, telling Deadline in March 2024 that after speaking with creator Taylor Sheridan, “I think we’re going to do 10 or so more episodes, and wrap up the story.”

This isn’t the first hint we’ve had that the final block of Yellowstone episodes might be supersized. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in June 2023, Sheridan said the final half of season five would possibly have ten episodes—making season five a total of eighteen episodes. “If I think it takes 10 episodes to wrap it up, they’ll give me 10,” Sheridan said. “It’ll be as long as it needs to be.”

Whether or not Lucas’s version of John Dutton will be appearing in some or all of those episodes wasn’t immediately clear, though it’s possible that Sheridan plans to use flashbacks to wrap up the character’s story in lieu of having star Kevin Costner return for the end of the series.

So far, Paramount has unveiled an official episode count for the season.

It’s going to be “the best series finale in history,” according to one Yellowstone star.

In April 2024, ahead of the show’s pop-up experience at the festival Stagecoach, Bohen doubled-down on his enthusiasm for the final block of episodes.

“The fans are going to get the [best] conclusion that could possibly be written,” Bohen told ET. “Everything will land in a way that is perfectly set. A lot of shows just kind of finish… and they don’t satisfy you. This will be completed in a way that it will make sense.” He added, “I don’t know that any show has finished this strongly ever. We’re expecting to have the best series finale in history. Overconfident maybe, but I think that’s what it’s going to be. We thank everyone for their patience… It’ll be worth the wait, I promise.”

While there’s still no information available as to what exactly will happen in those historic final episodes, given Bohen’s praise, many are expecting it to be epic.

Will Kevin Costner be in the final episodes?

There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether Kevin Costner would make an appearance in the upcoming, now-final episodes of the series—concern about which has been further fueled by legal documents filed by the actor in his ongoing divorce proceedings with Christine Baumgartner. In the documents, obtained by Insider in July 2023, Costner reportedly wrote, “I will earn substantially less in 2023 than I did in 2022. This is because I am no longer under contract for ‘Yellowstone,’ the principal source of my income last year.”

In a September 2023 child support hearing, Costner further stated, “I’ve been told it’s a little disappointing that [it’s] the #1 show on TV, I’m not participating,.” He added, “I will probably go to court over” the payout for the second half of the season.

In May 2023, sources close to the production reportedly told Puck that Costner would not confirm his return for Yellowstone‘s final episodes “until he finds out and is comfortable with,” how his character, John Dutton, is being written off. The first few episodes of the second half of season five, Puck says, have been written to allow for the possibility of Costner appearing, as well as the possibility that he will not be involved. The publication also reported that Costner was not informed ahead of the announcement that the show would be ending.

According to Us Weekly, an unnamed insider has indicated that as of April 2024, the production still hasn’t settled on whether or not Costner will appear in the final episodes. “They’ve internally discussed going a couple different ways with the story line if Kevin doesn’t return,” the source told the publication. “[Taylor Sheridan] could incorporate a big event to explain the disappearance, or there’s a calculative move to protect his family from an enemy.” They added that if Costner doesn’t appear that the final episodes of the show will “focus more on the children and ranch hands and their relationships, conflicts and alliances.”

This news came just two weeks after a report from Puck suggested that Costner is still hoping to make a comeback to the show, whether as a cameo or in some other form. According to the publication, Costner has been telling people that he will be returning to the show in some capacity, “but there are currently no discussions for him to do that.” The report also indicated that the final episodes—which are set to begin filming this spring—have already been written, without an appearance by Costner in mind.

During promotion for his new film, Horizon: An American Saga, Costner himself ultimately confirmed that he will not be returning.

The cast is expanding.

In June 2022, it was announced that Josh Lucas will be returning as the younger version of John Dutton, as will Kylie Rogers (who plays young Beth) and Kyle Red Silverstein as young Rip, so it seems we’ll be getting some flashbacks from the family’s past. Jacki Weaver, who played the family’s corporate adversary Caroline Warner, will also be returning, while Mo Brings Plenty (Rainwater’s right hand man, Mo) and Wendy Moniz (Governor Lynelle Perry) have been upped to series regulars.

It was previously announced that Jen Landon, who plays Teeter, and Kathryn Kelly, who plays Jimmy’s new fiancee Emily, have been upped to series regulars for the season. Jefferson White, sho plays Jimmy, is also set to return to the show, leaving earlier speculation that he could be moving the spin-off show 6666 still up in the air. Neither Kelly nor White appeared in the first half of the show’s fifth season.

Along with White, Yellowstone‘s core cast is expected to return, with Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Brecken Merrill, Forrie Smith, Denim Richards, Ian Bohen, Finn Little, Ryan Bingham and Gil Birmingham all announced for the fifth season.

In addition to the show’s fifth season, Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has already begun to expand the show’s canon on Paramount+. In addition to the existing Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Sam Elliott-starring prequel, 1883, the streaming service also has another Yellowstone origin story set in the Great Depression era, titled 1923 starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, which will return for a second season. Sheridan has also inked a deal for several in-development spinoffs, including the newly announced 1944 and The Madison.

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Catch up on Yellowstone here:

Previous seasons of Yellowstone are available for purchase on Amazon Prime, or streaming through Peacock.

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In September 2023, the show made its broadcast debut on CBS, with episodes airing from season one of Yellowstone through what’s been released of season five. It’s not currently clear when or if the network will also gain access to the second half of season five.