Taylor Sheridanhas been hitting the jackpot since the release ofYellowstone; all the ideas he’d had for various spin-offs andcowboy-inspired serieswere greenlit and ended up being fairly successful. But,his career is a lot more than just writing shows about horse-riding governorsand large family histories; Sheridan is also a master of suspense and a writer talented at creating tense and exciting stories.
Sheridancomes from a ranching backgroundhimself, so it’s no wonder stories likeYellowstoneare natural to him. But, his first script,Sicario, garnered lots of attention for being an intense and dark story, propelling his screenwriting credibility and career. For people who likedYellowstonewhile it was on streaming,they can replace that ranch-shaped hole in their hearts by revisiting other Sheridan’s projects. They may not all be completely similar to it, but have that signature Taylor Sheridan vibe that viewers will love.
Yellowstone
10’Sicario' (2015)
Starring Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro
Taylor Sheridan began writing stories for the screen withSicario. The movie was released in 2015, and was praised for exceptional writing, cast performances, and cinematography.Sicariois a powerhouse movie, for sure - it was directed byDenis Villeneuveand starsEmily Blunt,Josh Brolin, andBenicio del Toro. The movie is a tense thriller following FBI agent Kate Macer (Blunt) leading a task force with CIA agent Matt Graver (Brolin) and former attorney Alejandro Gillick (del Toro)to flush out a cartel lieutenant rumored to be hiding in the US.
While it’s not a Yellowstone-ish story,Sicariois a great insight into Sheridan’s beginnings as a writer. Besides, the story is sharp and well-executed,with incredible action sequences, so it’s worth watching regardless of the theme. It’s one of the best thrillers of the 2010s, which can be said for all of Sheridan’s feature films. Hopefully, he’ll make a few more in the future, but considering all theYellowstonespin-offs in production, he may not be focusing on movies any time soon.
9’Lioness' (2023-)
Starring Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman
TheseriesLionessis a close second toSicariowhen it comes to stories about spies, special operations, and secret missions. Though the movie and the series don’t have much in common,Lionessseems to pay homage toSicariowith tense and chilling action sequences starringZoe Saldañaand a cast of other actors, out of whom several haveworked with Sheridan more than once. Saldaña stars as the mysterious and cold CIA operative Joe, who struggles to be there for her family and her crew at the same time.
Joe leads a CIA task force that enlists female spies for covert operations; the task forceoperatives are called Lionesses, and their job is never as glamorous as spy work sounds. With increasing demands from all sides, from her boss Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman), her husband and two daughters, and the spies she converts into Lionesses, Joe struggles to keep herself together. Though her personal life is in shambles, Joe is an exceptional agent and leader, and the way Zoe Saldaña plays her is deserving of the title of a great action hero.
8’Mayor of Kingstown' (2021-)
Starring Jeremy Renner and Hugh Dillon
Some people like watchingYellowstonebecause they enjoy watching powerful families wield power and handle their rivals in style.Mayor of Kingstownis just the show for everyone who’ll miss watching the dysfunctional family dynamics and the power struggles of one family in particular.Jeremy Rennerplays Mike McLusky, “Mayor” of Kingstown, who, after getting out of prison, runs things with the idea that, if everything’s going well in the prison, it’ll be well on the outside, too.Kingstown is a fictional blue-collar town in Michigan, and Mike serves as a mediatorbetween the imprisoned people, street gangs, and the police.
Mike is only a mayor in nickname, not in actual title.Because he keeps the peace in Kingstown, the residents gave him the name; he inherited the “role” after his brother’s death, and has a very strained relationship with his mother, Mariam (Dianne Wiest) and his younger brother, Kyle (Taylor Handley), who is a detective. With the delay infilming after Jeremy Renner’s accident, the Mayor of Kingstown’s fate was unknown, but the show got a season four after his triumphant return. The family drama/crime thriller may be interesting to fans ofYellowstone, but it’ll surely be interesting to Taylor Sheridan’s fans.
Mayor of Kingstown
7’Wind River' (2017)
Starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen
Another Jeremy Renner and Taylor Sheridan collaboration,Wind River, is actually their first. After the success ofSicarioandHell or High Water, Sheridan wrote adarkneo-Western thrillerstarring Jeremy Renner as a wildlife officer on the Wind River Indian Reservation, who is joined by an FBI agent, played byElizabeth Olsen, in investigating the murder of a Native woman.Sheridan often incorporates stories about Native people and indigenous actorsin many of his movies and shows.
Wind Riverwasmeant to raise awarenessof crimes committed against indigenous women, whose murder and disappearance cases are often ignored or downplayed.Renner plays Cory Lambert, who discovers the dead body of a Northern Arapaho woman; with a raised interest from the FBI, Jane Banner (Olsen) knocks on his door, asking to join him in the murder investigation. Another frequent collaborator of Sheridan’s,Gil Birmingham, also stars inWind River. WithYellowstoneoften incorporating Native stories and actors, this is what the two have in common; that, and Gil Birmingham.
Wind River (2017)
Watch on Plex
6’Tulsa King' (2022-)
Starring Sylvester Stallone and Garrett Hedlund
Sylvester Stalloneleads a brilliant cast inTulsa King, a show that brought him lots of praise and attention. Stallone shows off some serious acting chops as Dwight Manfredi, a banished New York Mafia member sent to Tulsa.After serving 25 years bytaking the fall for his mob family, Dwight returns to real life hopeful that the Mafia will accept him. But, the mob boss' son, Chickie Invernizzi (DomenickLombardozi),convinces his father to banish Dwight to Tulsa, under the excuse that Dwight will open a branch for the Mafia over there.
Dwight is charming, ruthless, and has an incredible nose for business. Heestablishes business connections immediately upon arriving in Tulsa, building a budding and wealthy empirewith some brilliant characters.Tulsa Kingsometimes looks too good to be true, but it’s rarely dramatic. It displays some honest relationships and dynamics in criminal families and how criminal involvement reflects on personal life. WithYellowstonehaving lots of crime moments, andTulsa Kinghaving cowboys and ranchers, it’s a great replacement for theKevin Costnerseries.
Tulsa King
5’Lawmen: Bass Reeves' (2023)
Starring David Oyelowo and Dennis Quaid
The series that Sheridan hasn’t written or directed, but was an executive producer for,Lawmen: Bass Reeves,is an exceptional miniseries about areal-life U.S. Deputy Marshallin the 19th century called Bass Reeves. The storyfollows his journey from being a slave to becoming (possibly)the first ever Black U.S. Deputy Marshall, encompassing most of his life. Bass was an extraordinary man: he escaped his slave status during the Civil War, hid in the Indian Territory, became well-versed in multiple native languages, and ended up working as a peace officer in the territory.
When thenotorious judge, Isaac Parker(Donald Sutherland),orders the introduction of new patrol officers into the force, Bass becomes the most obvious choice due to his multiple language knowledge and gunfighting skills.David Oyelowo plays Reeves, embodying the heroic character in stature and personalityperfectly, though Oyelowo is an exceptional actor, meaning there was never any doubt in his abilities. ThoughLawmen: Bass Reeveswasinitiallycalled1883: A Bass Reeves Story, it was renamed to its current title to avoid is seeming like anotherYellowstonespin-off.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves
4’Landman' (2024-)
Starring Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm
Landmanis the latest Taylor Sheridan series starringBilly Bob Thornton, who leads a pretty stellar cast filled with familiar faces likeJon Hamm,Ali Larter, andDemi Mooreand newer faces likeMichelle RandolphandKayla Wallace. The story, this time,isn’t aYellowstonespin-off, but it could be adjacent to it in its first appearance,since Thornton’s character, Tommy Norris, lives in West Texas and dresses like a cowboy. Norris is the landman for an oil magnate, Monty Miller (Jon Hamm), and deals with various issues on the land where Miller has oil rigs.
Landmen, in the US and Canada, arepeople who do various services for oil and gas companies, which include business and land use negotiations, overseeing business, deciding on business development, and alike. The landmen’sofficial organization is called AAPL. Tommy Norris is the partriarch of his dysfunctional family who has to make difficult and unfair decisions that mostly benefit the land he works for and rarely himself or his people. This is what Norris and John Dutton fromYellowstonehave in common.
3’Hell or High Water' (2016)
Starring Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine
One of Sheridan’s best feature films,Hell or High Water, is a tense and action-packedneo-Western starring Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham,Chris Pine, andBen Foster. Pine and Foster play bank-robbing brothers Toby and Tanner Howard, who have an elaborate plan to rob a string of banks to pay off their ranch debt. The catch is,all the banks are Texas Midlands banks because they raised the ranch mortgagefor the brothers. While Toby and Tanner have a great plan in motion, Tanner is more prone to chaos, so Toby must watch out for his antics during the plan execution.
On the other hand, the movie also shows two experienced Texas Rangers, Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham), in the clever pursuit of the Howards,making the movie intense and unpredictable until the very end. Sure, there are cowboys, rangers, and sibling dynamics like inYellowstone, but fans generally loveHell or High Waterfor its emotional intensity, fast-paced action scenes, and exceptional dialogue. This movie is also considered one ofthe best Westerns of the past 20 years, so there is no pressure to getting it on a watchlist.
Hell or High Water
2'1883' (2021-2022)
Starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
ThefirstYellowstonespin-offSheridan created was1883, a ten-episodeminiseries about the first members of the Dutton family and their arrival in Montana, where they establish the Yellowstone ranch. The story follows their wagon expedition after the Civil War, starting in Tennessee and going across Texas and Oregon, finally reaching Montana, where they become landowners. The patriarch is James Dutton (Tim McGraw),Yellowstone’s John Dutton’s great-grandfather and a former Captain in the Confederate Army. He’s joined byFaith Hillas the Dutton matriarch, Margaret, andSam Elliottas a former Union Captain and wagon expedition leader, Shea Brennan.
The show is agreat display of wagon train expeditionsthat took place in the post-Civil War era. It’s mainly accurate in its depiction of the trials and tribulations people face during these expeditions, since trouble is expected on every step.Despite the Duttons being fictional, their inception into the world makes them feel real, which is all thanks to Sheridan’s writing and storytelling.1883is a great spin-off, but it’s also a fantastic Western series that can be watched without having seen anyof theYellowstoneepisodes.
1'1923' (2022-2025)
Starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren
The secondYellowstonespin-off and a sequel to1883,1923takes place forty years after James and Margaret Dutton’s establishment in Montana, where they founded the Yellowstone ranch. Their preteen sons, John and Spencer, areshown in someYellowstoneflashbacksas preteens, but in1923, they’re portrayed by adult actorsBrandon SklenarandJames Badge Dale. Through some memories and flashbacks, it’s revealed thatthe boys were raised by James' older brother, Jacob (Harrison Ford), and his wife, Cara (Helen Mirren), who the story mainly follows during difficult times and intense rivalries in 1923.
TheYellowstoneand Dutton universe continue to grow, attracting numerous Hollywood names. This onlyhelps the franchise become larger than life the more Taylor Sheridan comes up with. He surely has numerous stories up his sleeve.1923and1883may be better thanYellowstonefor some viewers, but they’re excellent companion series, too. Harrison Ford delivers great and steady work, but Helen Mirren is the real hero of the story with a powerhouse performance, allowing her to make Cara Dutton the most likable of all of Sheridan’s characters.
