Kevin Costner leaving ‘Yellowstone?’ Paramount responds

By Lisa Respers France and Dan Heching, CNN

Speculation that Kevin Costner may be leaving the hit drama “Yellowstone” has reached such a fevered pitch that Paramount has responded.

“We have no news to report,” a spokesperson for Paramount said in a statement to CNN.

“Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come,” the statement read. “Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”

This week Deadline reported Costner, who stars as the patriarch John Dutton on the much loved series, may be departing because of issues surrounding “disagreements over shooting schedules.”

According to the story, the show’s co-creator and showrunner, Sheridan, is working with Paramount to potentially wrap up the series in its current form and launch a franchise that would continue the Dutton family’s story and possibly star Matthew McConaughey.

Neither Paramount, Sheridan or McConaughey have confirmed that.

The series, which follows the lives of the Montana ranch family, has become enormously popular — so much so that it has three spin-offs: “1883,” “1932” and the forthcoming “6666.”

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