“It's a bit of a soap opera”: Kevin Costner takes a jibe at Yellowstone six months after the series finale

Taylor Sheridan's breakthrough Western series Yellowstone debuted in 2018 and concluded in 2024 after five successful seasons. While Sheridan wanted to expand the show to more seasons, Kevin Costner's controversial exit changed his plans.

Costner has played the family patriarch John Dutton since the show's debut and he is partly credited for its massive success. However, when he announced his exit to work on his passion project, Horizon: An American Saga, fans were naturally disappointed.

John Dutton was killed before the Season 5B premiere and fans have since missed his presence on the show. Recently, while promoting his upcoming docuseries The West with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the actor opened up about the Yellowstone finale, calling it a 'soap opera'.

Here's what Kevin Costner said about the show's finale.

Kevin Costner opens up on Yellowstone after the series finale

While fans had not anticipated this, Sheridan's Yellowstone concluded with the Dutton patriarch's death. Even with many discussions and negotiations off-screen, the show could not bring back Kevin Costner for Season 5 and the show ultimately bid farewell to the audiences.

Talking with Entertainment Tonight, Costner finally addressed the Yellowstone finale:

"Well, it's modern-day ranching. Yellowstone was able to capture that really so beautifully. I mean, it's a bit of a soap opera. I mean, we all should be in prison."

While the Western show does have many elements of a classic soap opera, it continued to charm the audiences for five seasons. They were even disappointed with Kevin Costner's exit, which ultimately led to the show's conclusion.

Costner thinks that all the Duttons should be in prison, but the Season 5 finale was far from what the actor hopes. While John Dutton was tragically killed off-screen before Season 5B, Beth kills Jamie Dutton to avenge her father's death.

With John and Jamie Dutton gone, Kayce sold their Dutton ranch to Thomas Rainwater, but the remaining Dutton children (Beth and Kayce) got their happy endings. Kayce moved to the ranch's east section with his family and Beth bought a working ranch for her family just outside Montana.

In addition to these satisfying endings, Beth-Rip and Kayce will also star in their respective spin-off series, continuing the Yellowstone legacy.

Kevin Costner left Yellowstone for his passion project

With the show's universe expanding with many spin-offs and prequel series, one cannot help but wonder if Kevin Costner can still return as John Dutton.

While a prequel series with John Dutton can always be pulled off, it is highly unlikely that Costner will reprise the character again, given his controversial exit. In addition to the alleged creative differences between him and Sheridan, he also said (in a 2023 interview) that he will probably go to court to claim the remaining $12 million he's owed for the Yellowstone Season 5.

The bad blood between Costner and the show's creators will likely hinder his return as John Dutton. In addition, he is also working on his Western passion project Horizon.

While announcing his decision to leave the show, the actor confirmed that he wants to continue his Western legacy of projects like Earp, Silverado, Hatfields & McCoys and many more with Horizon.

While Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1 grossed only $38 million at the box office (even though it was made on a budget of $100 million), the actor seemed determined to continue the project and will unlikely return as John Dutton again.

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