Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has confirmed that the long-rumored 6666 spin-off is no longer moving forward.
The potential series had been linked to Yellowstone’s storyline after Jefferson White’s character, Jimmy Hurdstrom, left Montana behind to take a job at the real-life 6666 Ranch in Texas.
Sheridan, 56, later purchased the legendary ranch following the death of its previous owner, a move that only intensified speculation that the historic property could become the backdrop for another Yellowstone universe series.
But the writer, producer and ranch owner has now made clear that the project will not happen, saying he does not want to risk “trivializing” the lives and work of the real people employed on the ranch.
‘I would never fictionalize that ranch,’ Sheridan said on Tuesday’s episode of the Rodeo Time podcast.
While Sheridan acknowledged that “people thought that that was gonna be,” he firmly shut down the idea, adding: “That’s never gonna happen.”
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has confirmed that the once-discussed 6666 spin-off has been scrapped. Sheridan is pictured in 2021
On Yellowstone, Jefferson White’s character Jimmy Hurdstrom — pictured left with Denim Richards as Colby, right — leaves Montana to work at the real 6666 Ranch in Texas
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Sheridan for further comment.
The original Yellowstone series included occasional scenes of Jimmy’s life on the 6666 Ranch, with actual workers there featuring in the supporting parts.
‘I’ve actually got on my computer all the scenes of Jimmy at the 6666 pulled out and strung together, and it makes its own perfect little movie where you watch him go there as this misfit and leave a man and a respected cowboy,’ said Sheridan.
He observed that viewers ‘who are in the cowboy world’ were able to recognize Heath Ownbey, the real-life cattle manager of the Waggoner Ranch, ‘and so for the people who know, that rings really true to them.’
However, the prospect of manufacturing new storylines on a full-out spin-off would involve ‘making up lives. Now I have to invent a drama. We can’t just watch a kid learn how to rope every single episode,’ Sheridan noted.
‘So now I’m trivializing and fictionalizing something where real people work and they raise their families there, and I could never do that to them.’
He said he was ‘very protective’ of the ranch and ‘very, very careful’ of the ‘big responsibility’ of being the ‘person who has to protect that brand.’
The 6666 Ranch was founded in 1870 by the cattleman Samuel Burk Burnett and was in the hands of his great-granddaughter Anne Windfohr Marion by the time Sheridan’s association with the property began.
In 2020, Marion died of lung cancer aged 81 and in 2022, Sheridan’s investment group bought the ranch for a rumored $320 million.
Sheridan, 56, acquired the historic property for a rumored $320 million in 2022 after the death of the previous owner. ‘I would never fictionalize that ranch,’ he said on Tuesday’s episode of the podcast Rodeo Time
Although fan hopes of a 6666 show have been dashed, another spin-off set in Texas, Dutton Ranch, starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser, has been renewed for a second season
Another heartthrob from Yellowstone, Luke Grimes, has landed a spin-off of his own entitled Marshals, which premiered in March
Kelly Reilly, Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelsey Chow, Wes Bentley and Cole Hauser are pictured in a publicity still for season two of Yellowstone in 2019. The phenomenal success of the show cemented Sheridan’s status as one of Hollywood’s hottest showrunners
Although fan hopes of a 6666 show have been dashed, another spin-off set in Texas, Dutton Ranch, has been renewed for a second season after airing its first run of episodes from May until July to a ravenous response from viewers.
That show stars Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser as the fan favorite couple of Beth Dutton and her ‘bad boy’ husband Rip Wheeler from the original series.
Another heartthrob from Yellowstone, Luke Grimes, has landed a spin-off of his own entitled Marshals, which premiered this March.
Two period spin-offs have also emerged from the franchise – 1923, led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, and 1883, starring Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Sam Elliott.
Sheridan’s vast television empire also includes such series as the Texas-based oil drama Landman, fronted by Billy Bob Thornton and Demi Moore, as well as the spy thriller Lioness, featuring Zoe Saldana, Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman.
