Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe ever since being founded in 2018 has reigned
supreme on television with its ambitious Western tale of ranch life in Montana. What the series has achieved
within that time, with Kevin Costner at the helm, is unprecedented in terms of episodic storytelling.
Expansive, brutal, and groundbreaking – Yellowstone never falters when it comes to the For seven years and five seasons, the plot followed the Dutton family patriarch and the siblings as they fought against the world and clashed with each other to protect what was rightfully theirs. Now that the story comes to an explosive end, the Yellowstone ranch has yet to find a resolution without Machiavellian manipulations and political backstabbing.
His reputation, which has been spreading like wildfire ever since his debut as the scriptwriter of Sicario, has solidified even further with Hell or High Water, Wind River, Yellowstone, and the whole array of Paramount+ original shows supplied directly by Taylor Sheridan to the Paramount Network.
As influential as Kevin Costner-led Yellowstone may be, the show finds more substance and becomes infinitely more valuable with the added weight of its prequels – 1883 and 1923. However, it is also the presence of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren that makes the latter stand out on its own. Speaking during a roundtable interview in 2022, Ford revealed:
I based my decision on personal meetings with [Yellowstone co-creator] Taylor [Sheridan]. There was no script at the time we agreed. One of the real draws for me was the opportunity to work with Helen [Mirren] again to play my wife, who was the first one aboard.
When Taylor and I met, it probably preceded the script by at least three or four weeks. So he talked me through what his ideas were, and I was impressed by his articulation of his ambition and his sincerity.
And when I got the script, I was very gratified. I think it’s very interesting. It’s ambitious. But it’s a character very different to any that I’ve played so far, and that interests me. I’m always interested in working with new things.Calling his work in 1923 and his character as Jacob Dutton a “challenge and an honor” to take on, Ford also admits that even though he loves Kevin Costner’s contribution to Yellowstone, 1883 was more important to him storywise. With the prequel arc now complete, Taylor Sheridan moves forward to expand the Yellowstone universe with two more spin-offs titled, 1994 and 2024.
