The Dutton line may be toast, after all. In a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan revealed that the upcoming sequel series led by Matthew McConaughey will likely not feature the flagship show's original cast members.
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Sheridan isn't banking on bringing back Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and company for the upcoming Yellowstone sequel series, which will stream on Paramount+, he revealed.
Instead, the producer is approaching the spinoff, which will include Yellowstone in the title, just as he approaches his prequel series: All-new characters in a new story. Suddenly, Wes Bentley's prediction that every Dutton family member will bite the dust in Season 5 doesn't seem so far-off.
"My idea of a spinoff is the same as my idea of a prequel," Sheridan told THR. "Read into that what you will."
Given that prequel series 1883 and 1923 take place, you know, in 1883 and 1923, it's fair to assume the spinoff will pick up someplace drastically different than the well-trodden Paradise Valley.
The spinoff series was announced in May, alongside the news that Yellowstone would end its chart-topping run with the still-unfinished Season 5, Part 2. While the series is still in the development stage—Sheridan has only figured out "the broadest strokes" of the story, and McConaughey is still negotiating a deal—, Sheridan is clear that the "new chapter" in the Yellowstone saga is actually a stand-alone story. He hinted that he's looking beyond the Dutton ranch in Montana:
"There are lots of places where a way of life that existed for 150 years is slamming against a new way of life, but the challenges are completely different. There are a lot of places you can tell this story."
Places like Texas, perchance? Matthew McConaughey's birthplace, and the site of Sheridan's historic Four Sixes Ranch? (Which, by the way, is also the setting for a previously announced Yellowstone spinoff series that's now delayed, according to Sheridan.)
The writer-director is also planning on rolling out "three or four" more Yellowstone prequel series that have not yet been announced. It's worth mentioning that there were rumblings of a Yellowstone: 1944 and 1960s-set series last year.
"[The prequels are] time capsules of life in Montana as a microcosm of the world as a whole," he says. "They're big spectacles, and the more that you move into the modern era, the bigger that spectacle becomes. I know these are huge bets Paramount makes on me every time. I'm asking them to give me Game of Thrones Season 6 money for what is essentially a pilot every year, and that's a big ask."
"As long as I do my job well, and people don't bore of the genre, I think there will be enough for many more [prequels] — three or four," Sheridan continued. "[Paramount Network President] Chris McCarthy trusts me, because I haven't been wrong yet."
