- Amidst the second season currently being streamed, Paramount+ has pre-emptively renewed Taylor Sheridan's Landman for season 3.
- The oil drama starring Billy Bob Thornton as fixer Tommy Norris and Demi Moore as M-Tex Oil CEO Cami Miller has consistently commanded major viewership.
- Landman season 3 release date: TBA (via Paramount+).
Paramount+ is well aware they've struck oil with Landman, which is precisely why they're greenlighting Landman season 3 nice and early - before the ongoing sophomore instalment can even have a chance to wrap up.
“We barely skimmed the surface in season 1 and, after season 2, I feel like we’re still just skimming the surface,” Landman showrunner Christian Wallace, who co-created the series based on his 11-part podcast Boomtown alongside Taylor Sheridan, told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Wallace added: “We got to know these characters in season 1, and now we get to spend more time with them in season 2. We get to raise the stakes. They are so fun to be around. This world is so rich - West Texas, oil and gas, Fort Worth, the upstairs downstairs of this whole thing."
"It’s such fertile soil for storytelling. Our cast has added so much depth to the characters. They know them so well now that they make it easy to tell an entertaining story.”
While the hit drama's numbers speak for themselves - recording an average of 15.8 million cross-platform viewers for season 1, according to Nielsen; Paramount+'s biggest premiere in history for season 2 (9.2 million views worldwide across multiple days) - cultural momentum aside, in light of series creator/golden goose Taylor Sheridan's impending billion-dollar exodus to NBCUniversal, it's in the best interest of Paramount to drill while they still retain the creative leasehold.
Back in October, multiple reports indicated the cowboy multihyphenate behind the likes of Yellowstone, Tulsa King, Lioness: Special Ops, and more had been greatly dissatisfied by the David Ellison-led regime change at the Paramount stable. Especially after several studio execs he’d come to know/love/respect were either relegated to the sidelines or sacked altogether following Ellison's installation as CEO.
As per The Wrap, NBCUniversal Chairman Donna Langley flew down twice to Sheridan’s ranch in Weatherford, Texas, over the course of several months to build a relationship with the superstar television showrunner, going as far as “offering him to be the Big Fish.”
“She earned that relationship. She focused on what was important,” noted an insider with knowledge of the situation.
Initially, these discussions only involved a deal, given that Taylor Sheridan’s contract with Paramount in this department expires next March. But as the conversation progressed, he was convinced to take his entire television portfolio along with him.
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Sheridan’s eight-year film deal with NBCUniversal commences in 2026, whereas the television component of the overall agreement commences towards the end of 2028 for a term of approximately five years. Ostensibly, it'll also encompass 101 Studios and Bosque Ranch Productions.
As for the narrative scope of what Landman season 3 will entail - along with the principal cast outside of Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph, and Jacob Lofland (season 2 also stars Sam Elliot and Andy Garcia) - I suppose we'll simply have to wait and see how season 2 unfolds vis-à-vis the mounting onscreen pressures of M-Tex Oil, and surviving the cutthroat conditions of West Texas.
Stay tuned for further updates on Landman season 3 (release date, cast, trailer, etc.).
