Three years after Taylor Sheridan called him a natural fit for a Yellowstone spin-off, Matthew McConaughey confirmed the project is still in discussion. The conversations are ongoing. McConaughey's own words from a recent appearance on The Playlist's "Discourse" podcast keep the project alive while settling nothing: "Nothing's real yet."
Where the project stands
The 56-year-old actor described the spin-off's status on the podcast with deliberate imprecision. "Not any more of a thing than it was or probably any less of a thing than it was," he said, adding that Sheridan and he have "continued to have conversations about what it could be." That is a longer leash than most development conversations get, but shorter than a greenlight by a wide margin.
The read-through from that framing: both men are interested, neither has committed to a specific project. Sheridan's interest goes back to June 2023, when he told The Hollywood Reporter that McConaughey "seems like a natural fit." The showrunner described how McConaughey had watched Yellowstone and told him directly, "I want to do that." Sheridan's response, as he recounted it: "Buddy, that we can do."
The Yellowstone universe moves on
While the McConaughey conversation idles, the Yellowstone franchise has kept moving. The flagship series aired its finale in December 2024, with Kevin Costner's character written out via an off-screen death. In August 2024, it was announced that a spin-off called "Dutton Ranch" would star Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, who played Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler, relocating those characters from Montana to Texas.
"Dutton Ranch" also shows what's changed inside the franchise. Sheridan stepped away from the writers' room during the show's first season, though he remained executive producer. Hauser described the adjustment in a July interview with Film Inside NYC: "Not having Taylor there for us to really kind of be able to work with these new writers, these new directors... everything had changed." The cast had to "figure out on our feet how to really perform and tell a story," he said.
The counterargument
The counterargument worth naming: a three-year conversation that has not collapsed carries more weight than a one-time meeting. Sheridan's 2023 framing was specific enough to suggest genuine creative alignment, not a courtesy call. McConaughey has stayed publicly engaged without a withdrawal.
On balance, the facts resolve to a project in indefinite holding. The line to watch is not whether Sheridan and McConaughey eventually agree on a concept. It is whether Sheridan commits to the writers' room when they do, given his departure from the "Dutton Ranch" writers' room during its first season.