The Paramount Network, which will replace the cable channel Spike in January, has begun production on its first scripted series right here in Utah.
Kevin Costner — winner of two Oscars, two SAG Awards, two Golden Globes, an Emmy and a DGA Award — headlines “Yellowstone,” his first starring role in an episodic TV series. He stars as the patriarch of a family that owns the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, which borders on Yellowstone National Park.
Ten episodes will be produced for the first season.
Taylor Sheridan, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing the screenplay for “Hell or High Water,” is the writer/director of “Yellowstone.”
The Paramount series becomes the second currently in production in Utah; the Disney Channel’s “Andi Mack” is producing its second season here.
Here is the official release:
PARAMOUNT NETWORK AND WEINSTEIN TELEVISION’S EPIC NEW ORIGINAL SERIES, “YELLOWSTONE,” BEGINS PRODUCTION ON LOCATION IN UTAH
New York, August 17, 2017 —“Yellowstone,” the first scripted series greenlit for Paramount Network, executive produced by Weinstein Television, John and Art Linson (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Fight Club,” “Heat”) and Kevin Costner, will begin principal photography on location in Utah this month. The 10-episode series will be shot near Park City through December.
“Yellowstone” stars world-renowned actor and Oscar-winner Kevin Costner, who serves in the lead role, and is written and directed by critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (“Hell or High Water” and “Sicario”). Sheridan recently won Best Director for “Un Certain Régard” at the Cannes Film Festival for the universally lauded film “Wind River.”
The impressive cast list for “Yellowstone” includes Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Kelsey Asbille, Dave Annable, Danny Huston, Gil Birmingham, Jefferson White, Gretchen Mol, Jill Hennessey, Patrick St. Esprit, Ian Bohen and Denim Richards.
Paramount Network, television’s new destination for premium scripted programming, will launch in January. “Yellowstone” will debut on the network next summer.
Virginia Pearce, director of the Utah Film Commission, said: “Supporting filmmakers in telling unique stories with compelling characters and breathtaking locations is key for us, and the much-anticipated ‘Yellowstone’ ticks all the boxes. We are thrilled to see the talented Taylor Sheridan return to Utah, and to welcome the whole cast to our community.”
In “Yellowstone,” Costner stars as John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States, under constant attack by those it borders — land developers, an Indian reservation and America’s first national park. It is an intense study of a violent world far from media scrutiny — where land grabs make developers billions, and politicians are bought and sold by the world’s largest oil and lumber corporations. Where drinking water poisoned by fracking wells and unsolved murders are not news: They are a consequence of living in the new frontier. It is the best and worst of America seen through the eyes of a family that represents both.
