In the hugely successful series Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan tells the story of the Dutton family, who own a ranch in Montana. A modern western, which spawned several spin-off series and morphed into an unexpected Western milestone. For genre fans there is no getting around it.
Two spin-offs have already appeared and three more are being planned. Where does Sheridan, who also oversees series like Tulsa King and Special Ops: Lioness, get the inspiration for all of these stories? In an interview with Variety two years ago, he named two films that were crucial to the creation of Yellowstone.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan was inspired by Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood’s western masterpieces
On the one hand, there is Merciless, Clint Eastwood’s ruthless reckoning with the genre. On the other hand, Sheridan calls Dances with Wolves.
Specifically he says in the interview:
As for the films that influenced me: Merciless is one of the films that I watched a lot in my late teens and early twenties. The same goes for Dances with Wolves, where you can see the Western genre through a completely new perspective that had never been explored before.
Of course, one name has to be mentioned in Dances with Wolves: Kevin Costner. Sheridan later snagged him as the lead actor for Yellowstone. But this era is now coming to an end. Costner has turned his back on Yellowstone and is now completely focused on his own new western epic: Horizon.
You can watch the trailer for Horizon here:
Horizon – Trailer (English) HD
Sheridan should still have no shortage of inspiration for further Yellowstone series. In the Variety interview mentioned above, he also talks about some authors whose works describe him as a storyteller of American Westerns strongly influenced have. His series include Cormac McCarthy (The Road), Larry McMurtry (Brokeback Mountain) and Toni Morrison (Humankind).
When and how does the Yellowstone universe continue?
The second half of Yellowstone Season 5 begins in November 2024 on the streaming service Paramount+. In addition, a second season of the spin-off 1923 with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren is in the works. Other Yellowstone series planned in the future: 6666, 1944 and 2024 aka Yellowstone Season 6. The prequel 1883 does not continue as it was only conceived as a miniseries.
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