Yellowstone has fans everywhere hooked on the exploits of the Dutton family, to the point that Paramount+ subscribers have already gotten two spinoffs based on earlier generations. Unfortunately, despite Paramount Network ordering a super-sized fifth season, the hit show from Taylor Sheridan hasn’t aired any new episodes since the beginning of 2023. Updates on the second half of Season 5 are few and far between, and I just keep thinking about what Wes Bentley told CinemaBlend earlier this year about a “dream come true.”
I spoke with Wes Bentley, who has been playing Jamie Dutton since the very first episode, at SCAD TVfest back in February. At the time, Yellowstone had only been on hiatus for a little over a month, and the show was expected to return in the summer. Bentley spoke with press after being honored with the Virtuoso Award, and I took the chance to ask whether the filming experience on location for Yellowstone ever gets less spectacular, and he quickly said “No, no!” He explained:
I love going to shoot. We shot in Montana, and we’ve shot in Utah before, up near Park City, and it’s a dream come true for me. I’ve always had a love for the mountains, but I know everyone’s probably say that [laughs] but it was kind of where I wanted to end up in my life. So it’s been really great to get to go to Montana, especially smaller towns and we really feel like we’re a part of the community, although maybe they’re sick of us by now. [laughs] But we feel a part of them and it’s really a dream come true.
Whether you’re a longtime fan of Yellowstone or have only caught an episode or two, there’s no denying that the show makes the most of filming on location and getting some beautiful sequences outside. For Wes Bentley, this has been a “dream come true.” His character may have had a turbulent ride on Yellowstone – to say the least, if you look at the timeline of Beth and Jamie’s feud – but the actor is a fan of where they get to shoot. Bentley continued:
Before that I was really kind of stuck in LA working or a lot of places that aren’t as beautiful as that we work, so I’m grateful and I get excited when we’re finally going back.
As part of the Yellowstone cast, Wes Bentley has been able to play Jamie Dutton longer than any other role in his long career. Speaking with CinemaBlend ahead of Season 5, he opened up about portraying the “heaviness” of his character, explaining that it’s “intense but it’s rewarding.” Now, he has made it clear that he’s excited when he gets to go back to work; the question is just when will the cast and crew actually be able to start filming for the back half of Season 5.
There were already reports of complications behind the scenes with Kevin Costner and Taylor Sheridan before the WGA writers’ strike and the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike that would have brought production to a halt anyway. In May, news broke that Yellowstone would actually end after the second half of Season 5, making anticipation all the higher for when the new episodes would be back to wrap up this chapter of the Dutton family’s story.
Unfortunately, it seems extremely unlikely at this point that episodes of Season 5B could be ready for broadcast before the end of the year. The SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, and there was no sign that the show was secretly in production on the remaining episodes before the strike. The wait for Season 5B continues, and I expect that I’ll continue thinking about Wes Bentley’s “dream come true” of filming until production finally begins again.
For now, you can always revisit the earlier days of Wes Bentley and the Duttons. CBS is airing episodes of Yellowstone as part of the 2023 TV schedule on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, and find the five seasons so far streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription. The next upcoming Yellowstone show is coming to Paramount+ shortly as well, with Lawmen: Bass Reeves set to premiere on Sunday, November 5.