As his reunion with Taylor Sheridan proves to be a hit, Billy Bob Thornton is feeling confident aboutLandman’s future. The Oscar winner leads the cast of the neo-Western drama as Tommy Norris, the titular crisis manager for a West Texas oil company who is facing multiple situations in his life, including the fallout from an accident on a rig leaving multiple workers dead. WithLandman’s castalso including Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph and Jon Hamm, the showhas garnered generally positive reviews thus far, proving to be another welcome show from theYellowstonecreative head.
During a recent interview withTheWrapto discuss the show, Billy Bob Thornton was asked aboutLandman’s future beyond its debut season. Though not having a direct answer for it,the Oscar winner did affirm he’s “signed up” to keep playing his character, while also recalling how he’s getting a lot more enjoyment in exploring a character over multiple episodes of a series than a trimmed down version of an arc in a movie’s runtime. See what Thornton explained below:
I’m signed up for it. Ten years ago, it wouldn’t have been fun for me. But there’s a different perception now. All the actors want to be in streaming now. That’s where you get to develop a character. What director or writer or actor doesn’t want to be able to do a movie that they don’t cut to an hour and a half? It’s a director’s dream to do 10 hours of movie. An episode can be 48 minutes long, or it can be an hour and two minutes long. Unless you’re doing Marvel movies and stuff like that, the movie business is not really the place anymore.
During a recent interview withScreen Rantahead of episode 4’s premiere, star Kayla Wallace, who plays ruthless attorney Rebecca Falcone, was also asked if she had heard an update onLandmanseason 2’s chances.She was similarly in the dark about the show’s future, though expressed her hopes to have “millions of seasons” and particularly her hope to get to work with Demi Moore on the show:
I hope so. I hope for millions of seasons until we can’t season no more. No, I don’t know yet. I can only hope that we get to keep telling these stories and see where these characters go. I’d love to work with Demi. She’s just so incredible, and I’m honored to be part of a cast that she’s in, but yeah, I’d love to work with her.
What This Means For Landman’s Future
Thornton’s Ongoing Dedication Is A Good Sign
While nothing may be official at the time of writing, Thornton’s ongoing passion and enjoyment of playing Tommy is a good sign forLandman’s season 2 renewal chances. Part of what helped carry Sheridan’sYellowstoneuniverse to its successwas Kevin Costner’s initial dedication to playing John Dutton III for as long as the creator had in mind. Though Costner’s exit became a thing of infamy for the show’s ongoing final season, it hasn’t affected its success thus far, as theYellowstoneseason 5 part B premiere set a new record high for the show on Paramount Network.
Thornton’s indication that he’s “signed up” forLandmancould also very well point to the Oscar winner having signed a multi-season contract forLandman, which wouldn’t be a first in Sheridan’s wheelhouse. He and co-creator Hugh Dillon have previously indicated that the plan forMayor of Kingstownis to go for seven seasons,while Zoe Saldaña recently stated she is contracted for"three seasons at least" ofLioness, proving that Sheridan is often crafting his shows with multiple seasons in mind for his and his co-creators' characters.
Sheridan co-createdLandmanwith Christian Wallace, the creator and host of the podcastBoomtown, which the show is largely based on.
Even if Thornton didn’t want to return for another season, though, that wouldn’t necessarily spell trouble forLandman’s future. Much likeYellowstone, Sheridan’s new show has a son character to Thornton’s Tommy, which could help establish a new protagonist should he die off. Additionally,Landmanhas been dominating the streaming charts since its premiere, including surpassingYellowstoneeven amid its final season.
Our Take On Landman’s Potential Future
Sheridan Has Another Viable Franchise On His Hands
Just based on the show’s streaming performance, I find it hard to believeLandmanwon’t get renewed for season 2 at Paramount+. It would require a pretty steep dropoff in viewership for the streamer to not view it as a success, and givenYellowstoneis coming to an end, audiences will definitely be hungry for more Western-skewing content from Sheridan, which Thornton’s show is clearly tapping into effectively.
Landman
Cast
Set in West Texas, this series explores the world of oil rigs and the fortunes they create. It portrays a modern upstairs/downstairs narrative of roughnecks and billionaires, highlighting the profound impact on the climate, economy, and geopolitics in these boomtowns.
