Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s Dutton Ranch series gets production update - The Independent
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Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch has received a production update months after the release of its successful first season.
The series, which premiered in May, welcomes back Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser as power couple Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler. The show follows their relocation to South Texas after a devastating fire destroys their Montana ranch.
Dutton Ranch broke Paramount+ streaming records, becoming the platform’s biggest original series launch yet. A second season was ordered before the first finished airing.
Now, it’s been confirmed that season two is slated to begin production early next year.
Reilly shared the news during a surprise appearance at the recent Paramount U.K. Upfronts, where she told the audience that Dutton Ranch reached achieved 12.9 million viewers worldwide during its first week on Paramount+, according to Deadline.
Speaking to the crowd, she described the series as “a risk I’m proud we took, taking Beth from the mothership to start a new life in South Texas with lots of snakes.”
“The response across the world, well I am surprised and grateful,” she added.
Filming for season one took place from August 2025 to March 2026 in multiple locations across Texas, including Ferris, Dallas and Fort Worth, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Earlier this year, Reilly’s co-star Hauser admitted there had been “challenges” for the new show, particularly the fact that creator Taylor Sheridan was not in the writers’ room. While the latest Yellowstone sequel was not officially created by Sheridan, it is based on original characters he created.
Following the conclusion of the first season, showrunner Chad Feehan was replaced by a new head writer, Benjamin Cavell.
Speaking to People about the decision, Hauser said: “We have a wonderful new showrunner, Benjamin Cavell, and I’ve been talking to him. He’s a very special guy, and I think the future is bright — not only for myself, but Beth [Kelly Reilly] and Carter [Finn Little] and the show in general. I think this is going to be a really nice next step.”
Cavell is known for co-creating the Stephen King adaptation The Stand and has also worked on shows including Homeland, SEAL Team and The Institute.
Dutton Ranch was the first series in the Yellowstone universe not to be written by Sheridan, although he remained involved in the show as an executive producer.
“There were challenges, you know?” Hauser told Film Inside NYC earlier this month. “Not having Taylor there, for us to really kind of be able to work with these new writers, these new directors, these people... everything had changed.”
He added: “I enjoy a challenge — it certainly was a challenge. We worked our a**es off this year. And I don’t think a lot of the outside noise or the thought of ‘what’s the weight of the show?’ was really apparent to me at the time.”
