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“Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan got real about how hard it was to get the show greenlit.
During an appearance on “Tom McCutcheon’s THE SHOW” podcast, the 55-year-old writer and director opened up about the process of getting the hit show on the air, saying it shows “the infinite lack of wisdom” in the entertainment industry.
“The project was set up at HBO and there was a guy, well, I hate him, so I’ll just say his name, Mike [Ellenberg], who was a vice president at HBO at the time, and he said, ‘Well, you know, you’re not going to get – he hated the project from the beginning. He didn’t want to do it, which he ended up telling me,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan recalled the executive telling him the only way the show would work was if they cast an A-list actor like Robert Redford in the lead role.
Sheridan shared that an HBO executive didn’t like “Yellowstone” from the beginning. He also pitched the show to several streaming giants but “nobody bit.” (Omar Vega/Getty Images)
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The showrunner took that to heart and traveled to the Sundance Institute to meet with Redford, ultimately convincing him to sign on to do the show, but said the studio “still wouldn’t make it.”
“Finally, I went to, me and John Linson, who was my producing partner on that, we went to lunch with Mike [Ellenberg] and I said, ‘Why won’t you make this?’ And he said, ‘I’ll tell you why, because I don’t think anyone should own that much land. I think it should be a park or something,'” Sheridan explained.
Eventually, he got word that they would not be moving forward with the show, so he continued to shop it around, saying he pitched it to “Netflix, Amazon, anyone who would read it, I would take it to ’em,” but “nobody bit.”
In the end, Spike Television, which later rebranded as Paramount, agreed to make the show, but without Redford at the helm. They instead wanted Kevin Costner, who ultimately starred in the show as the head of the Dutton family for five seasons.
Costner went on to star in the show for five seasons. (Paramount Network)
“Then I had to fire Robert Redford, which is, that’s how thankless this business is,” he said. “And then approached Kevin, which I did, and he read it and responded, and then the show became what it was.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives for Redford and Ellenberg.
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“Yellowstone” went on to be a cultural phenomenon, and spurred the creation of multiple spin-offs such as “1883” and “1923,” which expanded on the story of the Dutton family and how they came to own their ranch.
A new spin-off, “Dutton Ranch,” was announced following the end of the original series, and will star Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, who will reprise their roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler.
“As Beth and Rip fight to build a future together — far from the ghosts of Yellowstone — they collide with brutal new realities and a ruthless rival ranch that will stop at nothing to protect its empire,” a press release states. “In South Texas, blood runs deeper, forgiveness is fleeting, and the cost of survival might just be your soul.”
Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton and Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler in “Dutton Ranch.” (Lo Smith/Paramount+)
The original show came to an end in December 2024 after filming on the second half of the fifth season was delayed.
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At the time, rumors swirled that Costner was the reason behind the delay, with multiple sources alleging that Costner only wanted to work on the show for one week, which would have made it hard to film all the remaining episodes.
“The idea that Kevin was only willing to work one week on the second half of season 5 of ‘Yellowstone’ is an absolute lie. It’s ridiculous — and anyone suggesting it shouldn’t be believed for one second,” Costner’s lawyer told Fox News Digital in February 2023. “As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success.”
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