Yellowstone may be ending, but Taylor Sheridan’s Dutton universe continues to expand. What began with one show following the dramas of the modern-day Dutton family on their Montana ranch, now features multiple spin-offs, including a forthcoming second season of 1923, the Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford-fronted prequel series following an earlier generation of Duttons establishing their roots in the American west.
In early December, after months of quiet, the streamer debuted not one but two teaser trailers promoting the upcoming season: The first, featuring a voiceover by Harrison Ford’s Jacob Dutton, and the second with a narration by Brandon Sklenar’s Spencer Dutton. Watch both trailers below:
Here, everything we know so far about the show’s season two:
Season 2 will premiere in February 2025.
Given how many projects Sheridan currently has in the works, which range from Yellowstone-related series like The Madison and a new prequel tentatively titled 1944 to original shows like Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, and Landman, it seemed uncertain when the show could finally make a return.
However, over the summer of 2024, filming did finally kick off, and with the reveal of the season’s teaser trailers, we also finally got an answer as to when it would be back on our screens: the show will debut on Paramount+ on Sunday, February 23, 2025! The season, star Michelle Randolph told T&C, is “definitely worth the wait.”
Production moved to Texas for season 2.
When season 2 was originally announced, it was planned that the series would return to Butte, Montana, where the first outing was filmed. The Butte Civic Center was contracted to serve as a sound stage for the production when it was originally set to begin filming in June 2023, but ended their agreement with the show that summer due to ongoing production delays caused by the strikes of the actors’ and writers’ guilds. According to previous reports, the series was paying the township $75,000 per month for use of the Civic Center through the end of the 2023 calendar year, and had requested an extension on their contract when production was first delayed in May 2023.
Though it was later reported by NBC Montana that the show would, indeed, return to Butte for at least part of its filming, in May 2024 a story from the Austin Business Journal revealed that production would instead be centered at ATX Film Studios in Texas. According to J.P. Gallagher, the chief executive of Butte-Silver Bow County in Montana, the move was due, in part, to tax incentives.
Production was slated to began in July 2024, and was expected to run through September, however additional filming was later scheduled to take place in Butte in the fall.
In November, photos of Harrison Form were captured on set in Montana, indicating not only that production was still ongoing at that time.
1923 season 2 will be the show’s last.
When asked about the possibility of future seasons, Brandon Sklenar, who stars on the series as the war-haunted big game hunter Spencer Dutton, told the Hollywood Reporter that the show will come to a definite conclusion at the end of season 2.
“No, no, it’s bookend. [The series is] still limited, but I think of it as one piece—there’s just a split in the middle, but it’s all one piece. It will conclude,” he said.
Both Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren confirmed their return early on.
While Paramount+ has not yet officially released any details on the cast for the second season of the series, in December 2022, Sheridan appeared to off-handedly confirmed that the show’s two biggest names will be heading back to the ranch for more. When asked if it was difficult to get Ford and Mirren to sign on for season two, Sheridan told Deadline, “They were excited. They only signed on originally for one season. They were so eager to continue it.”
In a February 2023 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Ford seemingly echoed the sentiment. Speaking about his work on 1923 as well as the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, Ford said, “[Shrinking] came along, and then, very quickly after that, 1923 came along. I took the job without a script on both of them, on faith that the people who created the projects were going to deliver me a good script. I really didn’t realize how much work 1923 was going to be, and I absolutely feel it’s worth it. I’m excited to do another season of both.”
Mirren likewise told Deadline that the news of a second season was “very happy news as far as I was concerned.” She added, “I’m fascinated to see where Cara is going to go. Taylor did say she is very much of her era, she’s looking after the house. That is what her job is. But then he said, ‘Wait, things are going to happen.’ So we’ll see.”
As for working with Ford, Mirren opened up about her affection for her co-star during a Deadline Contenders TV panel. “Harrison is just so… I mean I’ve worked with him before, many many years ago we played husband and wife in a film called Mosquito Coast,” she said. “He’s just such a beautiful person I have to say It was so great to come back and it was as if the thirty years just hadn’t existed and here we were together again as husband and wife. I just can’t say too much about Harrison really, in the sense of my love for him because I think he’s just fantastic as a person.”
Season one starred not only Ford and Mirren, but also Brandon Sklenar, Darren Mann, Michelle Randolph, Aminah Nieves, Jerome Flynn and Julia Schlaepfer. It’s expected that many if not all of these actors will return for a new season, but nothing has been confirmed yet, so there’s still plenty of speculation ahead.
At the Golden Globes in January 2024, Brandon Sklenar, who plays Spencer Dutton, gave an exciting update, basically confirming his return and saying his character will cross paths with Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford’s Cara and Jacob Dutton. “I haven’t gotten to act with them yet. I will in the last eight episodes that we’re about to start,” he said. “It’s happening, and I’m stoked, I’m excited.”
The cast is expanding.
While relatively little casting information has been announced for the new season, it’s anticipated that much of the cast from season one will reprise their roles in the show’s second outing.
In a June 2024 report, Deadline revealed that Jennifer Carpenter, perhaps best known for her role on the long-running series Dexter, will be joining the cast for season 2. The actress will play the character Mamie Fossett, “a highly capable U.S. Deputy Marshall who serves warrants and makes arrests with confidence ahead of her time.”
Also joining the cast will be Janet Montgomery, previously of The Ex-Wife and New Amsterdam, who will play Hillary, “a thoughtful woman who does not want to see injustice go unpunished,” per Deadline. The character will reportedly be a recurring role.
Taylor Sheridan views season two as “the second half” of season one.
Season two, Sheridan told Deadline, is really “the second half” of season one, and will wrap up the story. He explained, “This one is different than 1883 where I had the whole thing blocked out in my head. This one, I had no idea what I was going to do. I just went on a journey myself and I’m the one that made the call to the network, which is probably the greatest call they ever got. 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.”
We’ll continue to update this post as more information is made public.
