Yellowstone Star Tease Update On Sequel Series Casting Plans

The fate of the Yellowstone franchise is still up in the air, but one its biggest stars may have given a hint about which direction things are moving in. 

In a new interview, Yellowstone's Rip Wheeler actor, Cole Hauser, seemed to indicate that – despite previous reporting to the contrary – there are plans for a Yellowstone Sequel Series that will continue the story of key franchise characters: 

"I'm so focused on finishing Yellowstone the way it needs to be finished right now — well, just the show itself," Hauser explained to Country Living. "We'll see where that leads. But I know that there's some stuff on the horizon when it comes to Taylor's ideas for Kelly Reilly and myself, and some of the other cast. I'm excited to see where he goes creatively with that. But right now it's just: Let's finish strong; let's do the best we can."

Back in February, reports alleged that Hauser and his Yellowstone co-stars Kelly Reilly (who plays Beth Dutton) and Luke Grimes (Kayce Dutton) were at an impasse in negotiations with Paramount  – an impasse that could kill the idea of Yellowstone's story continuing into the next series while retaining the current cast. 

Kelly Reilly openly refuted those reports after they dropped; she echoed Hauser in saying their focus is on finishing the last batch of episodes in Yellowstone's Final Season, first, before worrying about the future:

"I just care about finishing [the main show] with as much care and as much passion and as much love as I can muster to put into it. That's what I care about. I'm sort of prepping for that now [and] that's my tunnel vision thing that I care about most," Reilly said. "And what goes on beyond that? There are discussions, you know. Don't believe everything you read. It's just nonsense. But we're gonna, you know, let's wait and see. I don't have an answer right now. But we'll see."

Yellowstone Season 5 started airing in November of 2022, and aired its midseason finale (with Episode 8) in January of 2023. The Hollywood Writers' and Actors' Strikes of 2023 dealt a serious blow to the original production schedule; the final six episodes of Yellowstone are now set for release in November of this year. 

SPOILERS – Yellowstone's midseason finale saw the Dutton family's schism widen to a deadly degree; Beth is planning on killing her adopted brother Jamie (Wes Bentley), while Jamie is plotting against her and their father John (Kevin Costner), whose own feelings about handling Jamie remains unclear. 

Behind the scenes, we know that Costner will be done with Yellowstone after this – although even he recently hinted that he could still be part of the franchise, moving forward. 

Yellowstone will return for its Final episodes in November 2024.