Yellowstone is a TV phenomenon rivaled only by the likes of Stranger Things, Squid Game, and Wednesday. It’s no surprise that Netflix wants to replace the Taylor Sheridan series with its own Kevin Costner western series, according to a new report.
Yellowstone was Taylor Sheridan and John Linson for the Paramount Network after being passed over by HBO, which presumably had more dragons and fungi monsters to work on. The series stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton, the head of a family of wealthy Montana ranchers, and features an ensemble supporting cast including Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, and Gil Birmingham.
While it was only originally greenlit for a 10-episode single series, Yellowstone immediately became an enormous hit and regularly ranks as the most popular English-language TV series on traditional TV. Some of this can be attributed to the show’s elevated soap opera tone or Taylor Sheridan’s increasing throttlehold on TV audiences, but much has to do with the return of Kevin Costner in one of his Western roles.
Over the course of four and a half seasons (and with the remainder of a fifth upcoming), Kevin Costner has reclaimed his throne as the king of modern Westerns. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Costner in a cowboy hat was a familiar sight, with movies like Silverado (1985) and Dances with Wolves (1990) establishing his popularity in the genre.
It seems he has not lost his taste for Westerns, given that he announced his departure from Yellowstone to make Horizon: An American Saga, a long-gestating dream project of his.
Instead of Yellowstone seasons 6 through infinity, Kevin Costner opted to sink $80 million of his own money into an ambitious four-part series of three-hour movies chronicling westward expansion in 19th-century America. Even more ambitiously, it was announced that Horizon Chapter 1 would be followed by the second film in the series after a mere seven weeks in the theater, saturating audiences with gritty Western storytelling.
Unfortunately, Horizon Chapter 1 flopped hard at the box office. The first movie in the presumed series grossed $11 million on its opening weekend, a very bad sign for a movie that cost a reported $100 million, not including marketing costs. New Line Cinema has responded by canceling the upcoming release of Chapter 2, which also does not bode well for the future of the Horizon Saga.
Now, World of Reel is reporting that Netflix is attempting to acquire the rights to the Kevin Costner series in a bid to get its very own replacement for Yellowstone. According to the report:
The streaming giant would partially help in funding chapters 3 and 4, but most of the budget would still be financed by outside parties. The plan would be to release each chapter, months apart, on Netflix, with potential plans to eventually, if Costner agrees, turn it into an episodic mini-series.
No word yet on whether Costner is interested, but that’s the offer as it stands. No details on how much Netflix has coined up for Costner in the deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Costner refused the offer due to two reasons: 1) The streamer very likely didn’t put enough money on the table to cover Costner’s costs and 1) they have no interest in releasing these movies in theaters.
