The TV empire of Taylor Sheridan finds bedrock in the Yellowstone shows, but those are far from the only attraction under his prolific writing belt. Additionally, even the departure of Kevin Costner hasn’t slowed the rush of famous faces who are flocking to star in Sheridan shows, several of which are in production for their next seasons. Those include Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King, now gearing up for a a second season, and Billy Bob Thornton is moving past his 1883 confines to lead his own series, Landman.
The show is based in Texas, where Taylor Sheridan owns numerous sprawling properties, although he hasn’t let it slip whether any filming for Landman will take place in these venues. Let’s talk about what to expect from this series, which will likely surface before the final Yellowstone episodes.
Plot
This show finds bring to life material from the popular Boomtown podcast, although Sheridan’s pen will surely take the story elsewhere, too. Landman‘s description promises that this “drama is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas and described as a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs.” Not only will Billy Bob Thornton portray the main character, wheeling and dealing oil company crisis manager, Tommy Norris, but his life will take us on a tour of “an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”
In other words, this series hopes to bring to life the behind-the-scenes workings of the oil business, which surely arrives with other shades beyond the product itself, as anyone who has seen There Will Be Blood can attest. Both Thornton and co-star Jon Hamm have reveled in Sheridan’s writing for the series, and Hamm added, “It’s based on oil speculators and what they called landmen, which are the guys that run around and try to acquire mineral rights and land rights in the hope of speculating and finding oil.” The scripts are expected to weave the oil business into American identity in a move similar to other Sheridan scripts.
As a side note, Hamm has been in barbecue heaven in Fort Worth, so if there’s a second season, he’ll likely be all over it.
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton did not hesitate to hop on the lead role of Tommy Norris. Additionally, Demi Moore will portray Cami, the wife of a Norris friend and oil-business associate, and Jon Hamm portrays an oil-industry Titan named Monty Miller, who has an extensive background with Norris. On the personal side of the story, Norris’ ex-wife will be portrayed by Ali Larter, and Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland will portray their children, and the son is not peripheral to his father’s business.
Background roles will be filled by Texans far and wide, and those roles include oil-and-gas workers in the fields, both in North and West Texas, and some college-set scenes will be filled by area athletes.
Release Date
Filming is roaring along. In fact, Jon Hamm recently noted that that phase is halfway complete at this point with no release date revealed.
Trailer
No trailer has surfaced yet, but here’s a CBS News peek at production ongoing in Fort Worth, Texas.
