Taylor Sheridan’s Long-Delayed Yellowstone Prequel Series Gets Exciting New Update In Report
Yellowstone‘s next spinoff just got an exciting update.
Even with Yellowstone coming to an end almost two years ago, the Western drama franchise spearheaded by Taylor Sheridan is still going strong with character-focused spinoffs. Marshals, which sees Kayce Dutton return to Kayce Dutton, has been a big hit for CBS. Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser have likewise reprised their respective fan-favorite roles as Beth and Rip for Dutton Ranch.
The character-forward approach to these new spinoffs is a relative departure from the way Yellowstone‘s previous offshoots were focused on a specific time period. These have included 1883, 1923, and reports of a possible follow-up in 1944. But almost three years after 1944 was first announced, there has seemingly been no movement on the project.
As part of Matt’s Inside Line newsletter, veteran journalist Matt Webb Mitovich answered a reader’s question about the status of 1944 and shared that he is “assured” that the prequel “is still in development at Paramount.”
1944 was announced in tandem with 2024, with the idea that the latter spinoff would take place in contemporary times. It was initially reported that Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey would lead 2024, joined by other stars from the Yellowstone cast. While it seems to be case that 2024 ultimately morphed into separate spinoffs for Kayce and Beth Dutton, there’s been no concrete information about the story of 1944 or which characters might appear in it.
One idea is that 1944 could include Spencer Dutton, with Brandon Sklenar returning after the death of Spencer’s beloved Alex in 1923. With a bit of flexibility in the timeline, 1944 is also in a good position to depict the early years of John Dutton and explore more of the expansive names and histories that account for the Dutton legacy.
In any case, even though Sheridan signed a deal with NBCUniversal to develop movies and series, he will still be able to create shows for Paramount until his full exit in 2029. Perhaps one of the shows could be 1944, which seems like a natural fit to spotlight fresh corners of the Dutton family tree and help to create breakout young actors the way that Sheridan’s dramas have so far been able to do with Sklenar and others.