Sam Elliott’s upcoming role inLandmanseason 2 highlights two of the biggest ways the Western genre has changed since 2015. Sam Elliott is arguably one of thebest Western movies actors ever. FromTombstonetoJustified, Elliott has done it all.Elliott was also cast inLandmanseason 2, which gives him yet another chance to move the genre forward.
Landmanseason 2doesn’t just let Sam Elliott lead up another Western series created by Taylor Sheridan - they already worked together in1883- it also serves as an example of how Westerns have changed in the past decade. In fact, Sam Elliott being inLandmanseason 2 makes it a perfect way to investigate the way Westerns have changed since 2015.
Sam Elliott’s Landman Role Is A Reminder Of Westerns Moving From Movies To TV
Westerns Used To Be Primarily Films, But Like Elliott, They’ve Found Renewed Popularity On The Small Screen
For decades, Westerns were almost entirely a genre of film. There have always been great television Westerns, fromGunsmokeandRawhidetoDeadwood, but the vast majority of the genre took the form of movies. Just look at the list of thebest Western movies of all time.Sam Elliott also started out with Western movies likeThe Quick and the DeadandTombstone.
In the past 10 years, however, everything changed.Most of the prominent Western movies of the last decade - likeHorizon: An American SagaandDead for a Dollar- struggled financially and critically. Meanwhile, Sam Elliott has also made his turn to Western television through1883and nowLandmanseason 2. The last hit Western movie was (arguably)Django Unchainedback in 2012.
Almost all the successful Western stories that have been told since 2015 have been told in a serialized format. Many of Sheridan’s shows, likeYellowstoneand1923, are part of that, but there are plenty ofWestern shows from the last decadethat found huge audiences as well. Just as Sam Elliott started focusing primarily on TV in about 2015, so too did Westerns.
Landman Is Another Example Of How Westerns Have Changed In Tone
Landman Is Dark, Gritty, & A Neo-Western, Unlike The Classic Lighthearted Westerns Of Yesteryear
Sam Elliott’s casting inLandmanisn’t just a reminder of how Westerns have changed in format, however, it’s also a reminder of how they’ve changed in substance. The classic Western that dominated Hollywood in the early and middle 20th century was a lighthearted affair. Morals were defined by white and black hats, people died in puffs of smoke, and everything (usually) turned out right in the end.
The Westerns of the modern day, however, are much darker, grittier, and often not even set in the Old West.Both Revisionist Westerns - ones that highlight the grim, violent reality of the Old West - and neo-Westerns - ones set in the modern day - have gotten much more popular in the past decade. Both subgenres had been around for a while, but they’ve started to dominate Westerns as a whole since 2015.
Landmanis the perfect example of that. It’s set in modern day Texas, features graphic violence, moral ambiguity, and focuses on an anti-hero, and fits perfectly into both the Revisionist and neo-Western categories. And it’s hugely popular;Landmanseason 1 broke streaming records for Paramount+.Landmanis just an example of a wider phenomenon in Westerns: they’re getting darker and more modern.
Taylor Sheridan’s Upcoming and Potential Series and Movies
6666 Yellowstone spinoff
Mayor of Kingstown season 4
Tulsa King season 3
NOLA King season 1
Landman season 2
1944 Yellowstone spinoff
Lioness season 3
F.A.S.T.
TBD
I honestly can’t name a single Western - movie or show - from the last 10 years that wasn’t either a neo-Western or a Revisionist Western.Even back whenUnforgivenandDeadwoodwere coming out, they still had more upbeat counterparts likeTombstone. Now, however, those subgenres dominate Westerns as a whole, andLandmanis the perfect distillation of how the genre has changed.
