Could Writer’s Strike Derail Paramount’s Plans For ‘Yellowstone’ Finish?
Paramount has now made it official. Yellowstone is going to end with Season 5. They only need to film six more episodes to finish Taylor Sheridan’s tale of John Dutton III and their huge ranch in Montana.
However, could the Hollywood writer’s strike interrupt Paramount’s schedule for the end of Yellowstone and the flagship series’ new, still unnamed, sequel?
How Might The Hollywood Writer’s Strike Affect The Premiere Of The Final Yellowstone Episodes?
The news is out. Paramount has taken their original series Yellowstone to the train station. According to Deadline, they have a lot of plans for the future including a sequel that may or may not star Matthew McConaughey. Moreover, the network has announced that the remaining six episodes of the OG series will premiere in November on Paramount. The unnamed sequel will premiere in December on Paramount, then move to Paramount+ eventually.
That means a lot of scripts for Taylor Sheridan and his team to write. The problem? There is currently a writer’s strike. How might this WGA strike affect the future of the two premieres? There may be an issue if these scripts are not yet written. That is because there can be no writing of scripts during the strike.
During the strike, Paramount could film anything that is already written. However, every word and piece of punctuation has to be followed. Any changes, even a comma, could mean that there is writing involved because this means someone is “writing.” But, the issue with these episodes may be bigger than fans know.
Firstly, there is no confirmation that Taylor Sheridan has written the remaining six Yellowstone scripts. Recently, the show’s executive producer Stephen Kay revealed, “Taylor is in Texas spinning hay into gold and we’re hoping we’re hoping we’ll do it soon. Everybody’s excited.” However, this was before the strike happened. There has been no confirmation that the writing for these episodes has been completed.
If they are not ready, and the strike continues, the August filming and November premiere dates will need to change. We just do not know the most important details. Are the scripts ready? Paramount has not confirmed or denied this detail.
Can Sequel Scripts Be Ready Without Star Cast?
Next, Taylor Sheridan and his crew have to write the episodes for the sequel series. There is no indication that this set of series scripts has been completed. Moreover, what could be causing more issues is that they have not signed Mathew McConaughey yet.
Traditionally, Taylor Sheridan likes to write a script with the actor in mind. This happened when he wrote 1883, with Isabel May in mind as Elsa Dutton. Next, he wrote the Special Ops: Lioness script after he confirmed Zoe Saldaña would join the team. Also, Harrison Ford revealed that Sheridan did not write the script for 1923 until he officially signed on.
This is how Taylor Sheridan works. He casts a lead “muse” and weaves his stories.
‘Yellowstone’ To End, Sequel Greenlit At Paramount With Matthew McConaughey Still In Talks To Star https://t.co/brv7tPsWmb pic.twitter.com/ocm01Yo2jL
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) May 5, 2023
Therefore, if the strike continues for a long time, as many predict, any script that Sheridan may write could be problematic if they do not sign Matthew McConaughey. That means a lot of things need to go right for Paramount’s big 2023 fall plans to become a reality.
Yellowstone fans, do you have any predictions on what is going to happen next? Please share your comments and predictions below.
