(Headline USA) Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford will bring their combined star power to the newest addition to the Yellowstone TV franchise.
The pair will headline a Paramount+ series with the working title 1932, which joins 1883 as part of what the streaming service called the “origin story” of its Yellowstone drama series.
Writer-producer Taylor Sheridan is the creative force behind the hit franchise, which began with the contemporary drama Yellowstone, led by Kevin Costner.
The “1883” prequel stars country-music power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
The latest chapter in the Dutton family saga will be set in an early 20th century and a Mountain West beset by drought and the Great Depression, among other ills, Paramount+ said. It will debut in December.
The series has emerged as something of a sleeper hit among conservatives, often jaded by the woke agenda of similar “prestige” programming on platforms like Netflix and HBO.
“Hits are rare; well-made conservative dramas are even rarer,” noted TV Guide after the wrap of its first season in 2018. “And though I have no idea what co-creators Taylor Sheridan and John Linson’s personal political beliefs are, Yellowstone is a conservative show. … It’s Dallas shot on location with F-words.”
The show follows the conventions of the traditional Western genre, but with a more cinematic, soap-opera-like appeal.
Thematically, it plays to many ideas that appeal to conservatives, including the importance of family; respect for veterans; and strong, independent women who do not shy away from flaunting their sex-appeal.
Some critics have observed that it also seems to be a condemnation of the leftist media.
Fittingly, Costner—long regarded as one of Hollywood’s rare conservatives—recently inked a deal with Fox Nation for a four-part documentary series on the show in coordination with the conservative-friendly Warm Springs Productions, according to Showbiz 411.
Mirren and Ford are among the growing ranks of film actors who have added small-screen projects to their resume as streaming services vie for subscribers with prestige projects and big names.
Mirren is among today’s most highly regarded actors, a four-time Oscar nominee who won for her portrayal of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in 2006’s The Queen.
Although the British screen legend is not considered to be “conservative” by American standards, she has generated controversies suggesting that she might fit into the category of “red-pilled” classical liberal.
She was a vocal critic from early on of the effort by the Academy Awards to introduce race-based woke dogma into its decision-making process after capitulating to pressure from Twitter activists.
Cancel-culture trolls again targeted her last year with allegations of “Jewface” for using a nose prosthetic to portray former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier.
Ford’s extensive blockbuster movie credits include the Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark franchises. He was an Oscar nominee for the 1985 film Witness.
While he has expressed a penchant for leftist politics in the past, he has been less vocal than many more recent Hollywood stars in foisting his radical activism onto viewers, encouraging a more centrist stance.
However, during the 2020 election, he hurled insults at then-President Donald Trump, calling him a “son of a b***h,” Fox News reported.
Despite being an avid pilot and owning his own private jet fleet, Ford also has been an insufferable virtue-signaler on issues of climate change.
“We’re in danger of losing the support of nature for our lives, for our economies, for our societies,” Ford claimed, hypocritically, in a 2020 interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “Because nature doesn’t need people, [but] people need nature.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
