LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Negative publicity follows Kevin Costner everywhere. According to multiple sources involved in this high-stakes, months-long standoff, Costner, who is currently filming the sequel to his still-untitled 'Horizon' movie, has reportedly refused to return for the final episodes of 'Yellowstone,' which were being written by co-creator Taylor Sheridan and were scheduled for a summer and fall shoot.

While there is news of 'Yellowstone' being canceled and season 5 being Costner's last, unconfirmed reports from Puck News claim that Costner has one condition for returning to the Paramount franchise. 'Yellowstone' has become the most watched cable drama on television after four seasons on Paramount Network. The wildly popular series follows a family of ranchers in Montana as they defend their territory from intruders.

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Kevin Costner's rumored demands to return to 'Yellowstone'

According to Puck News, the 68-year-old 'Yellowstone' actor will not come to work unless he approves the way his character, John Dutton, is written off the show. Seemingly, he wants to stop creator Taylor Sheridan from pulling a Shonda Rhimes sting and putting the writer down in a suspicious way.

Given Sheridan's status as a television titan, it seems doubtful that Costner would have much influence over the latter's storylines; however, if we were to give the actor some uninvited counsel, we'd let him know that an awful ending isn't always terrible for a character. For instance, everyone can recall how McDreamy was fired from 'Grey's Anatomy,' yet none can recall Cristina Yang's whereabouts.

The conflict between Costner and network management reportedly reached an all-time high after Paramount abruptly declared that 'Yellowstone' will cease after Season 5 without providing Costner with even a hint of notice, stated Puck. The fifth and last season of the program will begin airing in November, and the spinoff, possibly starring Matthew McConaughey, will debut in December.

John Dutton is rumored to exit similarly to Logan Roy

One of the strongest characters on television, John Dutton doesn't think twice before taking action to defend his ranch and family. However, he has been facing a dark future because it was suggested that the character may not survive the return of the show this fall. Showbiz 411 claimed that Kevin Costner's character "will meet a similar fate" to Brian Cox's Logan Roy in the wildly popular HBO series 'Succession.'

If you have been watching the HBO series, you are probably well aware of how it managed to shock viewers by executing Logan in the middle of the fourth and final season. The Roy children learn the devastating news of their father's death in the third episode of Season 4 of 'Succession' from Tom. Logan's death so early in the final season was not actually anticipated by viewers, but the producers chose to take the risk and it paid off spectacularly, as per MEAWW.

This article contains information made by individual people and organizations and MEAWW has been unable to verify them independently.