How is ‘Landman’ connected to the wider ‘Yellowstone’ universe?
Landman is the new TV drama from Taylor Sheridan, but how does the show connect to Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe? Read on for all the info.
Sheridan wrote and created Landman alongside Christian Wallace, with the show being set within the world of the oil rigs of West Texas, where “roughnecks and wildcat billionaires are fuelling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics”.
It stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris, a crisis executive at an oil company, while Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland and Michelle Randolph play members of Norris’ family.
The show is based on the podcast series Boomtown, which was hosted by Wallace and produced by Texas Monthly magazine in partnership with Imperative Entertainment in 2019.
The first two episodes of Landman premiered on November 17 on Paramount+, with further episodes airing every Sunday, until the 10th and final instalment arrives on January 12.
How is Landman connected to the wider Yellowstone universe?
While there is no direct relationship between the two shows, they both come from the mind of Taylor Sheridan, whose storytelling style focuses on the dynamics of power and legacy in the American heartlands.
Yellowstone explores land ownership and family influence in Montana, while Landman examines the competitive world of the Texas oil industry. Both shows depict conflict and ambition in their respective settings, with Sheridan mining the stories to reflect aspects of American identity.
In keeping with Sheridan’s other work, which includes the films Hell Or High Water and Sicario, the shows tell modern stories of the American frontier and ties it into contemporary themes of power, greed and justice.
Landman star Billy Bob Thornton has spoken to Screen Rant about how he feels the show is thematically linked to Yellowstone. “Well, I think one thing that’s similar would be that it’s about the people, and the sort of inside workings of what’s going on with them all,” he said
“I can’t stress enough that this is not just a show saying, ‘Hey, look, this is the oil business.’ It’s about people and what we do in life, whether good or bad. I think Taylor has a handle on human behaviour, and I think in that way, they’re similar.”
The second half of the fifth season of Yellowstone is currently airing on Paramount+, with episodes premiering every Sunday. The final instalment arrives on December 15.
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Max Pilley
NME
