1923: Taylor Sheridan Confirms How Long The Latest Yellowstone Prequel Will Last
1923 launched to record numbers for Paramount+ just a few days ago, and naturally, there are questions about how long the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-led spinoff will last.
Ahead of the premiere, it was reported that franchise overlord Taylor Sheridan and Paramount+ were interested in keeping the cast intact for a second batch of episodes.
The previous Yellowstone prequel, 1883, was a limited series spanning 10 episodes.
Sheridan confirmed in a new interview with Deadline that he managed to talk Ford and Mirren into committing to 16 episodes.
"Well, it’s really the second half of the season," Sheridan teased.
"This one is different than 1883 where I had the whole thing blocked out in my head."
Sheridan notes that he went on a journey with the story of 1923, noting "I’m the one that made the call to the network, which is probably the greatest call they ever got," he recalls.
"Hey, I need to make more episodes to finish this story. I need to do this in two blocks."
"An eight episode block and a second eight episode block to wrap this up. I can’t wrap it up in two episodes and do the story justice."
"For them, it is great because they get more content. For me, I get more runway," the creative force said of mapping out the storyline.
Sheridan credited Paramount for giving creatives the space to tell stories on their terms.
"So, that’s the thing about Paramount that’s been so great for me. They’re so malleable to the storyteller, or at least to me as the storyteller."
"They will add episodes because I need it to tell the story. You think about when you talk about a show that’s costing $30 million to $35 million an episode and you just asked for eight more episodes, I didn’t do very good in math in school, but I can multiply eight and three and add a bunch of zeroes and realize I just asked for 240 million dollars."
Paramount+ spoke positively of the series' performance, after it scared up over 7 million viewers across linear airings and streaming.
"Anchored by Taylor Sheridan’s incredible vision and the performances of legends Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, we felt confident this next chapter of the Dutton Family origin story would resonate with audiences,” Tanya Giles, Paramount Streaming’s Chief Programming Officer, said in a statement.
“We are thrilled with the record-breaking early response to the first episode and can’t wait to introduce more audiences to this incredible journey of perseverance, heartbreak and adventure set amongst the backdrop of the Mountain West.”
In addition to Ford and Mirren, 1923 also stars Darren Mann (Animal Kingdom), Michelle Randolph (A Snow White Christmas), James Badge Dale (Hightown), Marley Shelton (Scream), Brian Geraghty (Big Sky), Aminah Nieves (Blueberry), and Jerome Flynn (Game of Thrones).
What are your thoughts on the show getting 16 episodes?
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