Kevin Costner's Fate On 'Yellowstone' Appears Sealed

More and more indicators are pointing towards Kevin Costner's time on "Yellowstone" being over.

There's been chatter for more than a year about whether or not Costner will return for the fifth and final season. Production officially started Monday, and it certainly seems like he's not coming back to play John Dutton.

Now, it appears there might not even be much to discuss anymore, judging from a profile of the star actor from GQ.

Is Kevin Costner officially out on "Yellowstone"?

Costner told GQ that he offered plenty of options for filming the rest of the final season, but progress wasn't being made.

He told the publication, "The scripts never came. They still haven’t shot it. As far as I know. The scripts never came. And so then at one point they said to me that we don’t have an ending or anything. I said, ‘Well, if you want to kill me, if you want to do something like that,’ I said, ‘I have a week before I start. I’ll do what you want to do.’"

Paramount Network refuted to GQ Costner's version of events. He also claims it wasn't true he only wanted to work for a week.

Costner told GQ the narrative about him in the media "really f*cking bothered" him, and he was frustrated nobody was setting the record straight. All of that alone makes it sound to me like Costner has moved on. If you're not already on that page, the statement Paramount Network gave GQ might be the final nail in the coffin.

Is Kevin Costner done on "Yellowstone"? (Credit: Paramount Network)

"Kevin has been a big part of Yellowstone’s success. While we had hoped that we would continue working with him, unfortunately, we could not find a window that worked for him, all the other talent, and our production needs in order to move forward together. We respect that Kevin has prioritized his new film series and we wish him the best," the network told GQ about Costner. Not sure how that can be interpreted in any fashion other than Costner is gone.

However, he's still holding out hope a resolution could happen. He told GQ the following about what it would take to see him play John Dutton again and iron out his differences with creator Taylor Sheridan:

"Well, Taylor and I know what the conditions are for coming back, and I’ll just keep that between ourselves. And if we can’t get to it, it’s because at the end of the day, it’s unreasonable for them or something. I love that character. I love that world. I am a person that is very script oriented. And if the scripts aren’t there now, I need to know what I am. I want to make sure that the character lines up with what’s important to me too. And that’s pretty simple. That’s just between, again, Taylor and myself. Can we ever get there? I don’t know."

"Yellowstone" (Credit: Paramount Network)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Fans need to start mentally preparing to never see Costner as John Dutton again. It seems like it would take a miracle at this point for him to come back.

The statement from the network about how they couldn't figure out a solution kind of tells us everything we need to know.

Costner appears cooked in terms of his future as John Dutton on the neo-Western hit. Production is underway, and he's not there. That's a very ominous sign.

"Yellowstone" is scheduled to return this November. Will that actually happen? Your guess is as good as mine, but production being underway as of Monday is certainly a good sign. However, if there's one thing we know for sure, the drama never stops on and off the screen. Hit me with your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.