The 1883 spinoff series 1883: The Bass Reeves Story is getting the Yellowstone touch with Taylor Sheridan directing the Paramount+ pilot. In a report from Deadline on Thursday, it was revealed that Yellowstone co-creator and showrunner Sheridan will direct the pilot of the six-part limited series starring David Oyelowo as the legendary Wild West cowboy.
The decision came following Sheridan receiving the script and being impressed with the direction, which he later called Oyelowo who encouraged him to steer the ship. “The reality is that [Taylor] is one of the best directors on the planet,” Oyelowo told Deadline of the two initial episodes Sheridan will helm. “We have to populate the show with a bunch of Black people to make sure that going forward the next Taylors are Black and brown and that there’s a bunch of them so that it doesn’t become a scarcity of the top-flight Black directors.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
During the Paramount Upfronts this past May, Oyelowo told PopCulture.com and other media in New York City that finally having the show get out there is a massive “pinch-me moment” after having “everyone reject it” over the past few years. “To have your conviction validated is always a good thing,” he said. When asked if 1883: The Bass Reeves Story would ever cross over into other Yellowstone shows, Oyelowo admitted it was more of a “stand-alone story” pertaining to 1883. “You see a world that I think audiences are loving having an entry point into,” he said. “In some ways, Bass Reeves gives some context from a different lens of some of the things that were happening at that time. It was post-civil war. It was going into reconstruction. It was a time when, as a black man very much within living memory, he was enslaved, and now he was deputized to bring law to the Indian territories. It was a time of huge change in America. So, we get to see another side of what was going on in America at that time.”
In prepping for the role of Bass Reeves, the Selma star said there was a “huge physical component” involved. “This guy was basically a superhero in a historical context. He was amazing with a gun, amazing on a horse, but also there’s the research component as well in terms of being historically accurate. So, a lot of strands on this one,” he said.
In a post shared to the Yellowstone Instagram account this past February, Sheridan praised Oyelowo in a reel, calling him a “once-in-a-generation talent.” Oyelowo also appeared in the clip, adding, “To look at a character like Bass Reeves — I mean, this is the guy The Lone Ranger was based on, who got whitewashed out of history. I just can’t wait to get on that horse and tell this story.”
A release date for 1883: The Bass Reeves Story has not yet been confirmed. Yellowstone Season 5 is currently in production with 1883 set to begin filming its second season soon.
