‘Yellowstone’ rumored to return for surprise sixth season with Rip and Beth: reports

“Yellowstone” may not be ending after all.

Despite being set to end after the upcoming second half of Season 5, the hit Paramount series may return for a sixth season, according to multiple reports. Season 6 would reportedly focus on characters Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler — played by Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, respectively.

Puck was the first to report the news that fan favorites Reilly and Hauser — who play husband and wife on the TV Western — are in talks to headline the surprise season. The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Deadline subsequently confirmed the story.

Reilly and Hauser have been negotiating potential new deals for months, which were initially believed to be for a “Yellowstone” spinoff, according to Deadline.

Sources told the outlet that Reilly and Hauser’s contracts are not finalized, but indicated that Paramount wants to continue the show past the second half of season 5 — labeled season 5B — which was supposed to end the series.

Kevin Costner, the original lead of “Yellowstone,” will not be returning for season 5B as the hard-nosed Montana rancher and patriarch John Dutton and would likely not return for Season 6 should it get the official green light.

Costner left Taylor Sheridan’s mega-hit series to focus on his four “Horizon: An American Saga” films, the first of which bombed at the box office.

Paramount’s decision to split the production of Season 5 created scheduling conflicts for Costner. Despite wanting to return to the show for the second half of Season 5 and officially end his character’s story, he and Paramount could not make it work.

Season 5B wrapped production earlier this month. The finale for the first part of Season 5 aired in January 2023 — leaving fans perched on the edge of their seats for more than a year and a half, waiting for new episodes.

Production on 5B was delayed due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood.

Thankfully for fans, however, Paramount confirmed in June that new episodes will begin airing again on November 10.

“Yellowstone” debuted in 2018 and drew huge ratings with its story of the powerful and duplicitous Dutton family, who control the largest contiguous ranch in the United States.

In addition to a potential Season 6, fans of the modern Western can look forward to a new series set in the “Yellowstone” universe. “The Madison” will reportedly be “a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.” The series will star Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox.

“Yellowstone” also spawned two other offshoots, “1883” and “1923,” which chronicle the Dutton family’s history before the present day.

The Post reached out to reps for “Yellowstone.”