Yellowstone’s First Spin-Off Prequel, With 89% RT, Thrives on Streaming Four Years After Its Debut

In 2018, Taylor Sheridan premiered the hit neo-Western drama Yellowstone, which ran for five seasons on Paramount until Dec. 2024. The original series was a major success, which later expanded into several spin-offs.

The franchise boasts star-studded names for all its projects, and it started with Western icon Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, and Wes Bentley. In 2021, the first prequel series, 1883, premiered. Almost four years later, 1883 has become a hit on Netflix, Tudum reports.

For the week of Mar. 10 and 16, Yellowstone‘s first prequel, 1883, made its debut on Netflix. Although it’s not available on the streaming platform in the U.S., as Paramount Pictures streams it on its platform, Paramount+, the spinoff series became a hit globally.

The ten-episode spinoff received 2.9 million views globally, and reached the Top 10 in 34 countries across the world. It entered the Top 10 in seventh place, just ahead of Ms. Rachel Season 1, American Murder: Gabby Petito, and the limited series Toxic Town.

Yellowstone proved from its first seasons that it’s a complex series, focused on the Dutton family, the owners of the largest ranch in Montana, the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. However, Sheridan further improved the universe with two spin-off prequels. All series follow the different generations of the Dutton family.

1883 followed the story of the Duttons’ arduous journey to what would later become the Yellowstone ranch. It was the second entry in the franchise, and the first prequel. The series starred country singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, alongside Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen, and James Landry Hébert.

1883 had a good reception. The ten-episode prequel spin-off boasts an 89% Certified Fresh score from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 76% from the audience.

The Yellowstone Franchise Continues

After 1883, a different prequel spinoff followed, 1923. The series brings back Isabel May as the narrator of the spin-off, after previously portraying Elsa Dutton in 1883, and also narrating the action. It stars Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford in the leading roles, and brings back Spencer Dutton, the younger son of James and Margaret Dutton from the first spinoff. Unlike 1883, which was a limited series, 1923 is currently airing Season 2.

More series will follow in the franchise. There is The Madison, currently in development, which was originally titled 2024. Michelle Pfeiffer will star in the leading role as wealthy matriarch Stacy Clyburn, as well as Kurt Russell, Patrick J. Adams and Beau Garrett. A different spinoff series set in the present day, titled 6666, is also in development, alongside a prequel series titled 1944, set during that year, serving as a sequel to 1923. Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are also expected to reprise their roles as Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler in a new spin-off series.