Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch has parted ways with its showrunner, Chad Feehan, before a single episode has reached the air.
The new series, which follows Yellowstone characters Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) as they attempt to start a new life in Texas, is set to arrive on Paramount+ on May 15.
However, Puck News reports that Feehan has already been told he won’t be returning if, as expected, the show is renewed for a second season.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan ran the original series himself, and he and producer David Glasser were said to be unhappy with Feehan’s handling of the show.
The publication claims that Feehan “clashed on set with stars Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly and other key players, many of whom have been working on Yellowstone for nearly a decade.”
The Independent has approached Paramount, Sheridan and Feehan for comment.
It is expected that Sheridan will look to promote another Dutton Ranch writer to take over as showrunner.
The logline for the new series states: “As Beth and Rip fight to build a future together — far from the ghosts of Yellowstone — they collide with brutal new realities and a ruthless rival ranch that will stop at nothing to protect its empire. In South Texas, blood runs deeper, forgiveness is fleeting, and the cost of survival might just be your soul.”
Along with Reilly and Hauser, Dutton Ranch also stars Ed Harris and Annette Bening.
Yellowstone, which ran from 2018 to 2024, was one of the most popular television shows in America when it was on the air.
However, it was not immune to behind-the-scenes drama. Star Kevin Costner infamously left the Western drama ahead of the second half of the fifth and final season, resulting in his lead character being killed off. His exit came amid reports of a falling out with Sheridan over scheduling issues.
Costner officially announced his departure from Yellowstone in June 2024, blaming scheduling conflicts with Horizon, a multi-part Western epic he was directing and starring in.
“I did it for five years, and I wanted to work more than once a year,” he said on an episode of the Today Show at the time. “We lost an entire year at one point, and I thought that can’t happen again.”
Costner claimed he even left filming for his movie for a “whole month” in order to shoot the rest of Yellowstone season five. But when he arrived, there was “no script” and “things imploded.”
Meanwhile, Sheridan said Costner’s decision “disappointed” him as “it truncates the closure of his character.”
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