Luke Grimes may have sold the Dutton family ranch, but it sounds like he’s not ready to leave the Western series behind just yet. According to Puck’s Matt Belloni, CBS is reportedly developing a Yellowstone spin-off starring Grimes as Kayce Dutton. According to the report, the proposed series is separate from the Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly spin-off, which is apparently in pre-production. Folks, that’s a ton of Yellowstone.
Outside of the Puck report, there’s little else to go on so far. The Kayce Dutton spin-off has not been confirmed by Grimes, creator Taylor Sheridan, nor any representative from Paramount/CBS. Right now, the only series confirmed to carry on following Yellowstone season 5 is The Madison with Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox. Season 6 remained on the table after Paramount changed season 5’s series finale to a “season finale,” but the network now seems to be planning a full slate of interlocking Yellowstone stories across multiple platforms.
When I talked to Grimes at the end of season 5, the actor told me that he was ready to bid the series farewell. “It feels like good timing,” he said of the finale. “Seven years is a long time to do anything, and I had never played a character for more than a few months before. I’ve loved all of it. But there is a part of it that—once you read those final episodes—sees that there’s a finality to it.”
Grimes did confirm at the time that “there’s always talks of spin-offs,” even though he just couldn’t see it working out story-wise. “I’d do it, [but] I just don’t understand how it would work once the story ends,” he told me. “Kayce wants to cowboy and be happy with his family. He doesn’t want to kill people anymore. He doesn’t want the weight of a huge mega ranch that isn’t sustainable in today’s times. He wants his little slice of heaven. It’s that simple.”