Yellowstone is finally, truly coming back for its last run of episodes — and getting two new spinoffs too.
Paramount Network confirmed on Thursday, November 2, that season 5’s second half will premiere in November 2024. Yellowstone’s final installment was previously set to debut this month, but a press release noted that the dual actors’ and writers’ strikes forced production schedules to shift. (The WGA strike ended in September, but the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing.)
While Yellowstone’s flagship series is coming to an end, Paramount announced that the Yellowstone universe will keep expanding with two additional spinoffs tentatively titled 1944 and 2024.
“Within five years, we grew Yellowstone from a hit U.S. cable show with 5 million viewers into a global hit franchise with over 100 million fans around the world and multiple extensions — and we’re just getting started,” Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement. “On the heels of 1883 and 1923’s success, our new planned spinoffs, 1944 and 2024, will take audiences on a thrilling, new and unexpected journey with the complex and compelling storytelling that has become a hallmark of the franchise and has helped turn it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon — thanks to the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.”
The first Yellowstone spinoff, 1883, premiered in December 2021 and followed an earlier generation of the Dutton family. The cast included Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott with cameo appearances from Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
1923, meanwhile, premiered in December 2022 and featured Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in the lead roles. While 1883 followed the Dutton family’s journey to Montana from Texas, 1923 focused on the clan’s attempts to protect their ranch amid the early stages of the Great Depression.
The first half of Yellowstone’s fifth season premiered in November 2022, but the second half has been plagued by delays. It was originally scheduled to debut this past summer but was pushed back amid rumors of a feud between showrunner Sheridan, 53, and series lead Kevin Costner.
Costner, 68, reportedly wanted to leave the show early to work on his next directorial project, Horizon: An American Saga, which is set for release in 2024. “My last conversation with Kevin was that he had this passion project he wanted to direct,” Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in June. “He and the network were arguing about when he could be done with Yellowstone. I said, ‘We can certainly work a schedule toward [his preferred exit date],’ which we did.”
It remains unclear whether Costner will appear in Yellowstone’s final episodes. Season 5’s first half left his character, John Dutton, in a power struggle with son Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley), who called for his dad’s impeachment from the governorship of Montana.
Costner, however, said in September court documents related to his divorce from ex-wife Christine Baumgartner that he “concluded his work” on Yellowstone in 2022. His legal team went on to claim that the actor “is not involved in any future episodes” of the show.
