The Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan is bringing the cast of his upcoming series Landman into focus.
Variety reports that the 53-year-old actor-turned-filmmaker — who is also working to adapt Empire Of The Summer Moon as a film — has added four new actors to the project — James Jordan, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie and Paulina Chávez — following the earlier announcement that Billy Bob Thornton will be starring in the series.
Landman, like Yellowstone, is set in the present day and is inspired by the popular podcast Boomtown, which chronicled a 21st century oil boom in western Texas.
The series logline describes it as ‘an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.’
Fans of Yellowstone will recognize Jordan, as he has played a recurring character — livestock agent Steven Hendon — over several seasons of the hit series.
James Jordan is among a crop of new actors who have been cast in Landman, Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming series for Paramount+. Jordan has appeared on Yellowstone (pictured) and numerous other Sheridan projects
Sheridan has co-created the show, which is based on the non-fiction podcast Boomtown, about a 21st century oil boom in western Texas; seen in 2021 in Las Vegas
He will be appearing in the series as ‘a petroleum engineer and a blue-collar bear of a man who manages and works with roughnecks in the oil fields.’
Jordan’s character will also be the roommate of Thornton’s character Tommy Norris.
The actor has worked with Sheridan multiple times after having appeared in his features Wind River and Those Who Wish Me Dead, as well as in his series Mayor Of Kingstown, Special Ops: Lioness and the Yellowstone prequel 1883.
Wallace will likely be familiar to fans of the Hallmark Channel, as she is known for appearing on the long-running drama When Calls The Heart.
She will be playing Rebecca Savage, who is described as ‘an extremely capable and intimidating liability attorney sent to West Texas to clean up a mess.’
Collie will be featured as Sheriff Joeberg, who is simply described as ‘a West Texas sheriff.’
Chávez rounds out the new additions as Ariana, ‘a young mother whose family has suffered a misfortune.’
Sheridan co-created the upcoming show with Christian Wallace, and he will be executive producing as well through his Bosque Ranch production company.
He will be appearing in the series as ‘a petroleum engineer and a blue-collar bear of a man who manages and works with roughnecks in the oil fields’ and will play a friend of series star Billy Bob Thornton; seen in 2018 in Toronto
Kayla Wallace (center) will likely be familiar to fans of the Hallmark Channel, as she is known for appearing on the long-running drama When Calls The Heart (pictured)
She will be playing Rebecca Savage, who is described as ‘an extremely capable and intimidating liability attorney sent to West Texas to clean up a mess’; still from My Grown-Up Christmas List
Mark Collie will be featured as Sheriff Joeberg, who is simply described as ‘a West Texas sheriff’; pictured in 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee
Paulina Chavéz rounds out the new additions as Ariana, ‘a young mother whose family has suffered a misfortune’; seen in March 2023 in Austin, Texas
He currently has a massive overall deal with Paramount Global, and Landman is expected to debut on the studio’s streaming service Paramount+, where most of Sheridan’s shows can be found.
Thornton was previously announced to star alongside Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland.
Thornton previously worked with Sheridan when he had a guest role on the Western series 1883, which starred Tim McGraw, his real-life wife Faith Hill and Sam Elliott.
Although his film roles have remained steady, Thornton has focused on television in recent years with his Amazon streaming series Goliath.
He starred as a disgraced lawyer trying to rebuild his career and clear his conscience over four seasons from 2015 to 2021.
So far, Landman does not have a release date.
News of the series taking shape comes as Sheridan’s flagship show Yellowstone and its upcoming sequel series have hit another snag.
Yellowstone is set to wrap up the second-half of its fifth and final season later this year, but the cast of its follow-up has yet to be locked down.
Puck News reported Monday that the Yellowstone stars Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Luke Grimes have requested significant raises to appear in the follow-up series, but so far Paramount is balking at the requests.
Billy Bob Thornton was previously announced to lead the series, which will stream on Paramount+ but does not have a release date yet
Sheridan is staying busy with Yellowstone spinoffs and prequels, as well as unrelated shows, as his follow-up to the flagship series is in the works following Kevin Costner’s departure; seen together in 2018 in Pasadena, California
Reilly originally requested to be paid $1.5 million per episode — though she has since gone down to $1.2 million — while Hauser is requesting $1.25 million per episode.
Paramount, meanwhile, has offered to raise Hauser’s per-episode fee from $700,000 to $850,000 per season one episode and $950,000 per episode in the second season, which is guaranteed.
Grimes is reportedly requesting a more modest raise, but Paramount is reportedly playing hardball with the stars.
Sheridan is said to have not originally planned to carry over the cast members to his new show, which is negotiating with Matthew McConaughey and Michelle Pfeiffer as the leads, but he was convinced to include the trio as a bridge for Yellowstone fans after Kevin Costner departed the series after the first half of season five.