Paramount+, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, and MTV Entertainment Studios today announced that Academy Award nominated legend Sam Elliott will star alongside global superstars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill in the service’s upcoming original series 1883.
Created by Taylor Sheridan, 1883 is the highly anticipated prequel to the Emmy nominated Yellowstone. 101 Studios and Bosque Ranch Productions will serve as production partners on the series.
1883 follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.
Elliott is set to play Shea Brennan, a tough as nails, handsome cowboy with immense sadness in his past. He has the herculean task of guiding a group from Texas to Montana, and he does not suffer fools. McGraw and Hill will portray James and Margaret Dutton, the patriarch and matriarch of the Dutton family, respectively. Additional cast to be announced.
“It all starts with the writing, and Taylor Sheridan is a brilliant writer,” said Elliott. “I think the western genre speaks clearly to both of us. The classic struggles of man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. It’s all there, in 1883, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
“This is truly a dream job,” said Tim McGraw. “Taylor has found a way of storytelling that brilliantly creates these epic dramas and family sagas with so much depth and creativity. The Duttons are tremendous characters and it’s so thrilling to be able to bring them to life. As a kid growing up riding horses, you think about dream jobs like this and I am just so excited to work with this amazing cast and crew.”
McGraw has been a go-to collaborator in the film and TV industry of late. The country superstar contributed a version of the Cars’ “Drive” for Netflix’s The Ice Road, which debuted on the streaming platform on June 25.
Listen to the best of Tim McGraw on Apple Music or Spotify.