Yellowstone actor Kevin Costner has opened up about how he thinks the story will go on without the presence of family patriarch John Dutton. It comes after the Hollywood legend decided to part the series before its final few episodes air.

Costner, 69, spoke about how Taylor Sheridan’s Western will move forward without him ahead of the season 5B November 10 premiere date, which is fast approaching.

While we may not know exactly how John Dutton is written out of the show, we do know that the kids will be taking centre stage.

Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) will soon be left to fend for themselves – and Costner agrees that this is the logical direction for the story to go in.

Speaking to ET, the actor reflected: “Obviously, it can go on, you know, I have children. So, you make the story about them.”

Kevin Costner plays John Dutton in Yellowstone (Image: PARAMOUNT )

This shift in the final season may draw some comparisons to HBO’s Succession, which also sees a major character depart just a few episodes before the grand finale.

The absence of a patriarch and the chaos that ensues for their children is also a theme present in the first season of Game of Thrones.

If these shows are anything to go by, any issues that the Dutton children are currently facing will surely only escalate once John is out of the picture.

It also seems the door might not totally be closed on Costner making a return in some part of Sheridan’s growing Yellowstone universe.

He said: “Who knows, some things have a way of circling back. You know, I haven’t seen that dust trail coming toward me.

The Dutton children will take centre stage for the final few episodes of Yellowstone (Image: YELLOWSTONE)

“But I’ve always been open to it when I started. Five seasons was a lot for us to do. And I think that story is not finished.”

We have also seen the Yellowstone story continue on through the prequel series, including 1923 and 1883.

On top of that, Paramount has announced further sequels and prequels, including 1944, which would take place in the WWII era.

There have also been reports of a spin-off show called The Madison, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Suits’s Patrick J. Adams, as well as yet another show called 2024.