Billy Bob Thornton Officially Cast in New Paramount+ Series From 'Yellowstone' Creator

Billy Bob Thornton already became a part of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe thanks to his recurring role in 1883, but he now has a lead role in Sheridan's next series. The Goliath star will headline the Paramount+ series Land Man, which will start production in 2023. The series is based on the acclaimed podcast Boomtown.

Land Man is billed as an "upstairs/downstairs" series about the roughnecks and unconventional billionaires behind the West Texas oil boom. Thornton was cast as an oil company's crisis manager. The story is inspired by the Imperative Entertainment and Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown, which included 11 episodes. The series was released between December 2019 and February 2020.

"We are in the privileged position to be able to work with people that we truly admire," 101 Studios CEO David C. Glasser said in a statement Tuesday. "With Land Man, Taylor developed it with Billy Bob in mind, and we were thrilled when he came on board. He is not only one of the greatest actors of our generation but also a true creative partner." Executive producers on Land Man include Sheridan, Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Geyer Kosinski, Dan Friedkin, Jason Hoch, Scott Brown, and Megan Creydt.

Thornton can be seen in the Yellowstone prequel series 1883 as Marshal Jim Courtright. He became available to star in a new series after wrapping up Amazon's Prime Video series Goliath after four seasons. Thornton also earned an Emmy nomination for his chilling performance as Lorne Malvo in the first season of Fargo.

On the movie side of the business, Thornton has an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay thanks to Sling Blade, which also earned him a Best Actor nomination. He has a third Oscar nomination for his supporting performance in A Simple Plan. Thornton's other movies include A Million Little Pieces, Bad Santa, The Judge, The Man Who Wasn't There, Monster's Ball, and Armageddon. He will next be seen in Netflix's big-budget Ryan Gosling movie The Gray Man, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo.

Sheridan had a very busy Tuesday, as Paramount made several major announcements involving him during its investor day. 1883 was picked up for a second season, and the company ordered another Yellowstone prequel, 1932. Lioness, a new series about female CIA operatives, was also picked up and will star Zoe Saldana. He is also working on Yellowstone Season 5 for Paramount Network.