Taylor Sheridan's New Western is Not a Yellowstone Spinoff (But Could Be a Crossover)

Summary

• While Taylor Sheridan continues to develop the Yellowstone franchise, he has no shortage of stand-alone series in his track record.
• For example, his new project, Land Man, is slated for Paramount+, and so far it's believed to be a standalone story.
• However, the proximity of Land Man's setting to the upcoming Sheridanverse project 6666 suggests that the former may be integrated into Sheridan's main cowboy universe.

Taylor Sheridan is one of the most prolific filmmakers not only in the Western genre, but in television in general, with projects that are among the most watched in the United States and around the world. Of course, he is best known for the so-called Sheridanverse, a Western franchise that began with Yellowstone and focused primarily on the ranching history of the Dutton family through various historical periods.

In recent years, however, he has begun to offer viewers far more than just Yellowstone spin-offs, delivering original series with stand-alone stories, including shows such as Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner, Tulsa King with Sylvester Stallone, and the upcoming Lawmen: Bass Reeves with David Oyelowo.

Of course, that doesn't mean Sheridan has lost interest in his iconic cowboy franchise, as after Yellowstone wraps in November 2024, fans will be able to see new spin-offs including 6666, 1944, and an untitled project with Matthew McConaughey. But that's not all Sheridan is ready to unveil, as a new series set in West Texas, Land Man, is set to premiere on Paramount+. And while the series is billed as a stand-alone story, it still has the potential to end up embedded in the Yellowstone universe, providing a crossover with the upcoming 6666, given the locations of both.

A Little Bit about the Upcoming Project on Paramount+

As mentioned above, the plot of Taylor Sheridan's new series, Land Man, co-created with Christian Wallace, will be set in present-day West Texas. It will be a tale of boomtowns and the adventurers and fortune seekers who inhabit them, not always noble as in the romanticized classic Westerns. On the contrary, it will be a story of bloody confrontations between those influenced by the modern gold rush — the object of the confrontation will be oil rigs. In other words, we are in for a new Sheridan crime drama with revisionist and neo-Western elements.

However, like every other Taylor Sheridan project, Land Man will be characterized by its star-studded cast. The lead role of the oil company's crisis manager will be played by none other than the star of the Coen Brothers' projects (including the first season of Fargo, which they produced), Billy Bob Thornton. The series will also feature James Jordan, who appeared in Yellowstone and 1883, as well as Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph, Jacob Lofland, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie and Paulina Chávez.

An Independent Story or Part of the Yellowstone Universe?

Of course, nothing is confirmed yet, so Land Man may indeed become a stand-alone story, not even indirectly connected to Yellowstone. However, given the location of the new setting, we can expect a crossover with 6666, a series based on the Texas ranch of the same name (which Sheridan himself owns in real life).

There isn't too much information about 6666 either, except that the ranch has already been covered as part of Yellowstone. Former drug dealer and not-so-successful ranch hand Jimmy Hurdstram (Jefferson White), who found his passion in rodeo, is sent to Texas by John Dutton (Kevin Costner) to learn what it means to be a cowboy. Jimmy stays at the 6666 ranch and falls in love with local veterinarian Emily (Kathryn Kelly).

Sheridan may want to work Land Man into the Yellowstone narrative: who knows, maybe Billy Bob Thornton's character will visit the 6666 Ranch one day?

So far, not much is known about either show, 6666 or Land Man, and their release windows are still undisclosed since production hasn't even started yet (though it should be quite soon). So we'll just have to wait for more details and possibly comments from Sheridan himself.