‘1923’: Everything We Know About the Latest ‘Yellowstone’ Dutton Family Prequel
1923 is the latest Yellowstone prequel from creator Taylor Sheridan. It will star Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as Jacob and Cara Dutton, who will lead the next generation of the family through difficult times in post-World War I Montana. Ahead of the highly-anticipated premiere, here’s everything we know about the latest Yellowstone Dutton family prequel.
‘Yellowstone’ prequel ‘1923’ is a story of the Dutton family’s survival
In the first Yellowstone prequel 1883, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill starred as James and Margaret Dutton, who traveled the Oregon Trail with their daughter Elsa (Isabel May) and son John (Audie Rick). They were the first generation to settle the family’s land in Montana at the location where Elsa died in the 1883 finale.
Forty years later, the next generation of Duttons will hit hard times in the next prequel known as 1923. It’s set during a time of western expansion. And this post-World War I time period will see the family dealing with prohibition and the coming Great Depression.
“1923 focuses on the Dutton family’s next two generations as they struggle to survive historic drought, lawlessness and Prohibition, and an epidemic of cattle theft; all battled beneath the cloud of Montana’s great depression, which preceded the nation by almost a decade,” the series description reads.
The new prequel 1923 is essentially the second season of 1883. The concept has been such a success for Sheridan that he’s turned the Dutton saga into an anthology where each generation is its own limited series. There will likely be more Dutton generations to come in future prequels that will cover the 1940s and 1960s
Everything we know about the new ‘Yellowstone’ prequel
Ford and Mirren’s characters are the brother and sister-in-law of McGraw’s James. They will lead a large ensemble cast that also features Marley Shelton, Michelle Randolph, James Badge Dale, Brian Geraghty, Darren Mann, Aminah Nieves, Jerome Flynn, Sebastian Roché, Tim DeKay, Julia Schlaepfer, Jennifer Ehle, and Timothy Dalton.
It appears that the only character from 1883 who will make it to 1923 is John Dutton, Jacob and Cara’s nephew. Dale will play the grown-up version of Rick’s character, who was just five years old in the first prequel.
“We’re going to see people who we didn’t know about come into the universe and we are going to recognize certain characters who are now members of the present-day Yellowstone family,” Roché told Variety. “In 1883, you saw the genesis of the Dutton family. This is the survival of the family.”
The scope of ‘1923’ is unlike Taylor Sheridan’s other series
Unlike the first prequel, 1923 will reportedly get two eight-episode seasons instead of one 10-episode season, per Deadline. The bulk of the action will focus on the construction of the sprawling Dutton ranch in Montana, including building the family’s spectacular log cabin that is a major setting in Yellowstone.
To get a sense of the scope of this latest prequel, they shot some scenes in South Africa, Tanzania, and Malta, in addition to shooting in Montana. This indicates a World War I storyline in addition to the Dutton’s fight to keep their land.
1923 premieres Sunday, December 18, on Paramount+, and 1883 is now playing. Yellowstone Season 5 airs Sunday nights on the Paramount Network. Seasons 1 through 4 are available on Peacock.
