Yellowstone 1923 Shattered Paramount+ Records
Yellowstone 1923 set a massive record as the most-watched television premiere ever on Paramount+.
To say that Yellowstone 1923 had a successful premiere would be an understatement. According to TVLine, the new Yellowstone prequel series from Paramount+ beat the record for the most-watched premiere on the streaming service by a whopping 80 percent. 7.4 million viewers either streamed or tuned in to the Paramount Network on television to watch Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren as the patriarch and matriarch of the famous Dutton family in 1923.
Yellowstone 1923 saw one of the biggest cable premieres of 2022 as well, which is not so surprising when you think that the original Yellowstone series starring Kevin Costner is also a huge hit. With big, long-lasting, and popular names like Ford and Mirren attached to the project, it was bound to pull in viewers from both the original Yellowstone and other, unrelated movies and shows spanning decades.
Like last year’s other Yellowstone prequel, 1883, which saw the Dutton ancestors heading out on the Oregon Trail, Yellowstone 1923 will introduce a new generation of the Dutton family made famous by Kevin Costner. In this series, things like drought, pandemic, Prohibition, and the Great Depression hang heavy over the Duttons’ heads as they live in the lingering shadow of the recently ended World War I.
Cattle theft and rampant lawbreaking abound in Yellowstone 1923 as the family deals with an economic depression that began in their native Montana a full 10 years before it hit the rest of the country. As fans have seen in Yellowstone and 1883, the Duttons tend to face a lot of hardship, but they are a tough bunch and will work hard to overcome adversity.
Interestingly, Yellowstone 1923 was originally titled Yellowstone 1932. The year of the show was changed so that it could address all these interesting historical themes and issues while maintaining what makes the Dutton family so great.
Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the original Yellowstone series, has a lot going on these days. In addition to bringing Yellowstone 1923 to the screen, he also has at least two other Yellowstone projects in various stages of development, including 1883 and 6666, the latter of which will focus on the famous 6666 (pronounced “four sixes”) Ranch from the contemporary Yellowstone series.
Yellowstone 1923 comes to us in the middle of a Harrison Ford renaissance as well, which could account for a few of those millions of views. Not only is Ford starring in this epic Western series, but he is also starring in Shrinking with Jason Segel, which debuts on Apple TV+ in early 2023, and putting on his trusty hat for the fifth and final Indiana Jones film next summer.
Ford is not the only busy Yellowstone 1923 star, though. Helen Mirren is also keeping busy, appearing in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in Spring 2023 and Fast X, the next film in the Fast and Furious franchise, which is set to premiere on May 19, 2023.
Other cast members on Yellowstone 1923 include Michelle Randolph, Marley Shelton, Darren Mann, Brian Geraghty, Jerome Flynn, and Aminah Nieves. New episodes are set to premiere every Sunday for eight weeks.
