'Sons of Anarchy' Creator Kurt Sutter Abruptly Leaves Netflix Series Before Production Ends

Sutter has exited 'The Abandons' three weeks before production wraps following reported tension behind the scenes and creative differences.

By Megan Behnke

Kurt Sutter has abandoned The Abandons. The Sons of Anarchy creator is exiting the Western Netflix series three weeks before production is supposed to wrap in Calgary, according to Deadline. Sutter created the series and also served as showrunner and executive producer. Executive producer and director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins will take over for the rest of filming, which will include reshoots and continue as scheduled. As of now, a new showrunner has not been named.

While a direct reason has not been given, there have reportedly been creative directions over the show's direction as it wraps filming and goes into post-production. When the first episode initially closed in at one hour and 40 minutes, it was impossible to cut it down to an hour so it was decided to split the episode in two. That meant creating a cliffhanger in the middle of the episode, written by Sutter and directed by Bathurst, with new scenes so it could tie the split episodes together.

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Sources share that while the scenes have been written, they have not been filmed. Netflix has seen an unfinished cut of the first two episodes as well as part of Episode 3, with executives feeling the cuts "looked somewhat disjointed and not propulsive enough," but Sutter was not called into a meeting about it. As if that wasn't enough, there has been some alleged tension between Sutter and some of the cast over storylines, level of collaboration, and communication, with production going over budget. As of now, The Abandons is still aiming for an April debut.

It was announced in 2022 that Kurt Sutter was working on The Abandons, which has quite the cast. Lena Headey, Aisling Franciosi, Gillian Anderson, Ryan Hurst, Nick Robinson, Lucas Till, and Lamar Johnson are just some of the actors part of the ensemble cast. Who had their gripes over storylines and more with Sutter is unknown, but it sounds like things weren't sunshine and rainbows behind the scenes. It's unclear if Sutter left willingly or if he was fired, though it is a shame to know that he will no longer be on the series. More information on The Abandons should be released in the coming weeks as far as how the scheduling is going with production and who the new showrunner will be.

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