Kevin Costner will star as a rancher in a world of intrigue Paramount Network's first scripted series, Yellowstone.
And the transition of movie stars to instant television heavyweights continues as Kevin Costner has signed on to star in the new television series, Yellowstone. Fresh off appearing in the Oscar nominated and exceedingly popular Hidden Figures, Costner closed the deal to appear in the first scripted series from Paramount Network—the new revamped and renamed Spike TV—which is being written and directed in its pilot by Taylor Sheridan. Sherdian is also a get unto himself, having written the Oscar nominated screenplay like Hell or High Water, as well as Sicario. He will be executive producing the project too alongside The Weinstein Company and John and Art Linson (Sons of Anarchy).
In the series, Costner will play a ranch owner named John Dutton. Dutton controls the biggest contiguous ranch in the United States, one that borders land developers, an Indian reservation, and the titular national park and jewel of Wyoming. But the series looks to dispel notions of a peaceful American West, revealing a world of high stakes power plays and land grabs in which real estate deals are worth billions, and murder is a career risk. Additionally, politicians seeking to represent these lands can be bought and sold with the commonality of fracking polluting the local water.
As the logline says, “It is the best and worst of America seen through the eyes of a family that represents both.”
The series is poised to shoot this fall before debuting 10 hour-long episodes on Paramount Network in summer 2018.
“Our goal is to bring premium cinematic storytelling to television,” said Keith Cox, president of development and production at Paramount Network and TV Land. “With an icon such as Kevin Costner in front of the camera, and the renowned Taylor Sheridan behind the camera, we are off to a great start.”
