The main branch of the Yellowstone-verse — which is to say the show Yellowstone — is in a bit of a mess right now. First Kevin Costner is wiggling his way out of the Western smash hit, then one strike began, then another. The SAG-AFTRA one is still ongoing, which means (among many other things) that it’s unclear when they’ll get back to filming the rest of the final season. Still, the franchise is chooglin’ along, popping out one spinoff after another.
Last week they announced two more: 2024 and 1944. Not much is known about either, except that 2024 is expected to air after Yellowstone concludes. It’s been said that it will sport new characters, even though it will presumably be shot on the same enormous ranch known as 6666 (which is getting its own spinoff). That shouldn’t be difficult given it’s the size of two Chicagos, leaving room for plenty of other Duttons or Dutton-adjacents. It’s also been speculated that that’s the one that will star Matthew McConaughey.
But what of 1944, the show set 80 years prior? Let’s dig in.
Plot
There’s not been much official word about 1944’s story, at least from Yellowstone honcho Taylor Sheridan or Paramount. But per the Montana rag Ravelli Republic (as caught by TV Guide), it will allegedly be a follow-up to 1923 (that’s the one with Harrison Ford and Dame Helen Mirren). Will it be about another branch of the Dutton family? About Ford and Mirren’s character’s successors? All that is under wraps.
One thing that’s safe to assume is, given the titular date, it will probably concern, to some extent, the final days of the Second World War. It was a time when much of the male population was overseas, fighting a two-pronged conflict. Women had to step and do some of the jobs men once did. Perhaps (and this is wild speculation, so take this with a quarry of salt) it will follow women running the ranch as their men are abroad fighting Germany and Japan. Or maybe World War II will simply be in the background, as there were still other things happening in the American Midwest in 1944.
Release Date
That, too, is not yet known, or maybe not yet even decided. Given that the final bout of Yellowstone itself is scheduled for November 2024, it’s safe to assume it will either air not long after that or early 2025.
Cast
No cast members have been announced, and though it’s been assumed that the aforementioned McConaughey will head up 2024, he could very well pop up in the one set eight decades before.
1944 was only announced on November 2, so it’s very, very early days here. Watch this space for more on a franchise that could wind up popular the way Marvel once was but isn’t so much anymore.