Yellowstone fans have been facing a year-long drought and still have millennia to wait until the final episodes drop in November, and that’s assuming a 2024 TV schedule will avoid becoming a complete storm. And that’s ignoring all the other upcoming Yellowstone projects, including three side projects that have yet to officially cast leads. So perhaps it’s understandable why my faith in the franchise’s future is waning after Taylor Sheridan launched yet another new series.
What is Taylor Sheridan’s latest TV project?
Taylor Sheridan and his company Bosque Ranch Productions made an “aggressive” bid in the bidding war to secure the option for the 2010 S.C. historical story. Gwynne Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. Sheridan will produce alongside Jenny Wood, and Deadline points out that adapting the book has been a passion project for the Western-loving filmmaker for years.
The book recounts the sweeping story of the rise and fall of the formidable Comanches, and focuses on the story of kidnapped Texan Cynthia Ann Parker and her son, Quanah, who grew up to serves as the tribe’s final leader, albeit the most revered. one. Since its publication, Empire of the Summer Moon has received widespread acclaim and serves as one of the most vivid and researched works about the famous nation where its fall occurred. out at the armed hands of the newly formed Texas Rangers.
There’s no question why Sheridan told this story, especially after he finally helped bring Bass Reeves’ story to life in the first season of the Lawmen anthology. (The success of Killers of the Flower Moon probably didn’t hurt.) Plus, the Four Sixes farm he now owns and the series once held Quanah’s spear, which has since been moved to a museum local and also boasts a pair of antlers above the stone fireplace that came from a deer that Quanah himself killed.
Why is this new project potentially a bad new project for Yellowstone?
Namely, there are so many shows in Taylor Sheridan’s pipeline that most of them can be produced, filmed, and released in a timely manner. He’ll likely spend most of 2024 filming the final six episodes of Yellowstone along with the second season of 1923, and the silver lining there for Sheridan’s workload is that both series That will be the end.
But then the long-awaited 6666 spin-off was first announced around 1883 as coming soon, which will reportedly star Jefferson White’s Jimmy. Additionally, viewers who have subscribed to Paramount+ are also looking forward to the latest prequel, 1944, which was announced in November 2023, which doesn’t seem to have given any updates yet.
It’s also unclear where things stand with the 2024 spinoff, which is unofficially set to introduce Matthew McConaughey into the Yellowstone story. The first week of January brought disappointing rumors that progress on contract negotiations was stalling, implying that the True Detective vet could pull out of the project if deals weren’t made .
To be sure, it’s entirely possible that Taylor Sheridan could have someone completely different intending to take over the helm of Empire of the Summer Moon by writing, hosting, and directing. But considering this has been a passion project for years, and considering how much he enjoys working alone, I certainly don’t expect him to give up on the creative process. But that may be the only way for the story of the Dutton family to find its footing again.
Other than that, Empire of the Summer Moon sounds like a good series that could rival Lawmen and 1883 as top frontier dramas, so hopefully Sheridan doesn’t wait too long before making plans for it.