Kevin Costner threatens to sue 'Yellowstone' producers over royalty

Los Angeles, Sept 2 (IANS) In the midst of his ongoing divorce, actor Kevin Costner has now threatened to sue the producers of his series ‘Yellowstone’, for not receiving proper royalties.

In Costner’s first public remarks about his abrupt departure and the series coming to an end with Season 5, the actor, during a hearing in Santa Barbara court regarding child support, indicated on the stand that he will likely sue over the way things went down, reports Deadline.

While on the stand, he also shared that a “long, hard-fought negotiation” about splitting season 5 into two parts was behind his decision by the producers and showrunners, was his reason to quit the series after the last Season.

If Costner was to engage in a suit over his Yellowstone departure, the defendants likely would be producers 101 Studios and Paramount Network parent company Paramount Global.

Responding to a question by his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner’s attorney John Rydell as to whether he was offered to do Season 6, Costner also said it was a “complicated” issue.

“We did negotiate,” Costner said, noting that he was offered $24 million to do Seasons 5, 6 and 7. “There were issues about creative differences,” he said, regarding his talks with franchise creator Taylor Sheridan and producers. “I tried to break the logjam. They walked away.”

Costner was paid for the fifth season of ‘Yellowstone’, which only has filmed the first half of that cycle’s episodes so far. Based on his compensation, the $24 million the actor was referring to in the court-  hearing was for the sixth and seventh seasons only.

Back in February, Deadine had reported that main the crux of the issues involved disagreements between the producers and Costner over shooting schedules. The actor, who originally had limited himself to 65 days of shooting on Yellowstone, only wanted to shoot 50 days for the first part of Season 5.

For the second batch of episodes, Season 5B, which is yet to be shot and now will mark the show’s final chapter, Costner only wanted to spend a week shooting.

It is unclear whether the actor, who is also an executive producer on Yellowstone, is serious about filing a wrongful-termination lawsuit or if this is part of legal maneuverings during his increasingly acrimonious divorce proceedings.

‘Yellowstone’ producers had no comment on Costner’s courtroom remarks. However, it was noted that the star essentially made himself “unavailable” to the show, which would complicate his legal position with regard to his contractual obligations.