Entertainment

‘Dutton Ranch’ Review: ‘Yellowstone’ Lands a Sturdy, Simplified Sequel

Published

4 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Near the end of “Dutton Ranch‘s” two-part series premiere, something astounding happens — or nearly happens. After a hard day of ranching, Rip (Cole Hauser) and Beth (Kelly Reilly) hit the local watering hole with their fast friend and local veterinarian, Everett (Ed Harris). A proud Navy man whose Seawolves hat never leaves his head, Everett quickly establishes himself as an honest and respected town elder. He knows everyone, but he doesn’t judge them. He works hard for everyone, but he has his preferred clientele.

Rip and Beth are among them. The new couple in town quickly wins Everett over with their compassion for lost causes (Beth) and dedication to the cowboy way (Rip), so it only makes sense to see them sharing a drink at the bar once the day’s duties are done. What makes less sense is what happens next: Everett gets called on stage — to sing. The guitarist who’d been strumming country ditties for the weary workforce wraps her latest refrain and says, “Why don’t we get McKinney up here?,” as though everyone in the bar has been waiting all night to hear the old sailor start crooning.

Now, I don’t mean to question Ed Harris’ musical talent. He’s an esteemed actor, after all, with enough Broadway experience to earn a Tony nomination, and if there’s a role showcasing his melodious vocal range that I’m overlooking, please point it out to me. But the grizzled former Man in Black and man-who-failed-to-ground-Maverick isn’t known for playing the type of gruff ol’ cowpoke who’s about to break into song. So when Harris steps behind the mic as Beth and Rip head to the dance floor, I was on the edge of my seat. Here we go! Kevin Costner would never! “Dutton Ranch” is going for something different!

And then the diegetic sound fades out, the non-diegetic score kicks in, and the scene abruptly shifts away from Everett’s forever-unknown number. For the briefest of moments, you can spot Harris on stage, singing his heart out, but you can’t hear a single note. It’s as disappointing as it is maddening. Why introduce Everett as a singer if not to hear him sing? The plot doesn’t require it, and I surely wasn’t expecting it. If Kevin Bacon or Jeff Bridges were playing Everett, then sure, but no one saw Ed Harris in the opening credits of ‘Dutton Ranch’” and thought, “Oh, boy! I can’t wait to buy the soundtrack!”

Perhaps this doesn’t seem like a point worth stressing in a review of the latest “Yellowstone” spinoff, and that may be true. But the scene — which better turn out to tease a big song-and-dance routine from Harris later on — exemplifies the best and worst of “Dutton Ranch,” a series with a low ceiling, in terms of its potential, but a relatively high floor.

Whereas the first “Yellowstone” sequel, “Marshals,” took a single Dutton family member and stuck him in a routine CBS procedural, “Dutton Ranch” returns two fan-favorites in a drama series rooted in the same open-range cowboy life as its predecessor. There are some bumps in the first four episodes (out of nine total for Season 1), but they’re related to pacing, focus, and follow-through. The core story is a simplified version of “Yellowstone” (which was never that complex to begin with) that sets up its cherished preexisting characters to thrive alongside a cast of newcomers who know how to leave their mark.

If anything, Harris and Annette Bening are already stealing “Dutton Ranch” out from under Beth and Rip. But that’s OK. Those two know how to roll with the punches, and their new series knows what its viewers want.

Mostly. For those who need the refresher, at the end of “Yellowstone,” Beth and Rip started over. Their mammoth family ranch was sold to the reservation in order to preserve the land, and they purchased a smaller homestead (though, really, what could be bigger?) near Dillon, Montana. It’s an ideal set-up for a spinoff, right? Beth and Rip are on their own, starting from scratch, building a new family legacy adjacent to their father’s (and father’s father’s) old one.

Well, for whatever reason, creator Chad Feehan and executive producer Taylor Sheridan decided “Dutton Ranch” should be in Texas, instead. (Perhaps that’s why Feehan was fired three weeks ago, well after production completed but long before an anticipated Season 2? Either way, no need to worry: The last time Sheridan fired a showrunner on one of his programs, it turned out to be the best TV series he’s made.) So the premiere episode opens with a laughably truncated ode to Beth and Rip’s maiden Montana ranch, right before it burns to the ground and they have to relocate to Rio Paloma, a small town an hour north of the Mexican border.

Dutton Ranch is dead, but “Dutton Ranch” is just beginning.

And so is Dutton Ranch, because Beth and Rip aren’t about to change the name of their ranch just because the original was wiped off the face of the earth. Dutton Ranch II is acquired so quickly, the actual transition from one owner to the next isn’t shown until the second episode, even though Rip & Co. are already wrangling cattle in Episode 1.

Ed Harris as Everett McKinney in Dutton Ranch, episode 2, season 1, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Emerson Miller/Paramount+. — Ed Harris in’ Dutton Ranch’Courtesy of Emerson Miller / Paramount+

Similarly clunky execution creeps in when the series shifts into montage mode, aka when creator Chad Feehan and director Christina Alexandra Voros try to recreate the sweeping odes to nature “Yellowstone” relied on to convey the Duttons’ deep appreciation of the soil, the herd, and ranching in general. Here, such extended sequences of cowboys steering their steeds and working their land feel rushed. They don’t fit the existing vibe, even when they’re trying to set it.

Still, their mere presence goes a long way to reminding audiences what they liked about the original “Yellowstone,” as do a few more key facets. Hearing Rip tell someone to “shut the fuck up” with a ferocity that betrays his underlying affection remains strangely endearing. So does Beth’s inability to suffer fools, be it a gaggle of screaming bachelorette partygoers or a restaurant owner who doesn’t respect his staff. There’s a reason these two were tasked with carrying the “Yellowstone” mantle forward, and “Dutton Ranch” gets it.

It also repositions the pair as straightforward heroes. In the original series, John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and his children weren’t exactly pure of heart. Kayce (Luke Grimes) spent most of his life trying to escape his toxic family, while his siblings consistently broke the rules in ways that were only justifiable as acts of self-preservation.

Beth and Rip aren’t nicer now, by any means. They’ll still beat the hell out of a guy they’ve never met and burn his house down if they decide it’s warranted, but you won’t feel conflicted when it happens. Maybe that will change as the season goes on, but for now, it’s easy to enjoy them fighting for their place in a territory already claimed by someone else, especially when said someone needs to get cut down to size.

The Duttons got away with a lot of lawbreaking because they were the big dogs in Montana — but everything’s bigger in Texas. Beulah Jackson (Annette Bening) rules the rural area via 10 Petal Ranch, and her corruption is as plain as the nose on her problematic son’s face. Rob-Will (Jai Courtney) is a loose cannon, and when he makes the biggest mistake of a life filled with plenty, it’s clear who’s wearing the black hat and who’s wearing white when the Jacksons and Duttons face off.

Despite an uneven structure, “Dutton Ranch” largely knows how to harness its inherent advantages. Bening gets to sink her teeth into a whiskey-swirling Southern villainess (while filling John Dutton’s shoes as the powerful-yet-compromised old-school boss), and Harris puts on the charm as the generous grandpa-type. Hauser and Reilly are doing their respective things, and even though the Texas landscape is a drier brown than Montana’s majestic greenery, the vicarious dirt-under-your-fingers experience endures. All told, it’s a more straightforward drama than what “Yellowstone” was going for, but given where that show ended up, maybe simpler is better.

“Dutton Ranch” doesn’t need to be different. In many ways, it was designed to be more of the same. but it does need to do one thing: In a figurative and literal sense, it needs to let Harris sing.

Grade: C

“Dutton Ranch” premieres Friday, May 15 on Paramount+ (and the Paramount Network at 8 p.m. ET). Two episodes will be released initially with a weekly release through the finale on July 3.

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Signature Nabs U.K. Rights to Aaron Eckhart’s ‘Deep Water’ (Exclusive)

Published

17 minutes ago

May 14, 2026

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Signature Entertainment have acquired the U.K. & Irish rights to Aaron Eckhart‘s survival thriller, Deep Water, with Ben Kingsley.

Directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2), the Arclight Film project is written by Shayne Armstrong (Acolytes) and S.P. Krause (The Darkness). It follows a plane that goes down in the middle of the Pacific in deadly, shark-infested waters. Terrified, the eclectic group of passengers is forced to work together to escape the sinking aircraft and the frenzy of sharks swarming below.

An exclusive still of the film, released to The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, shows the pair in pilot attire ahead of their ill-fated flight.

Producers include Dale G. Bradley and Grant Bradley, Adrián Guerra, Gary Hamilton, Ryan Hamilton, Neal Kingston, Robert Van Norden, Bob Yari and Ying Ye.

The deal was negotiated between Signature Entertainment’s chief commercial officer, Elizabeth Williams and Arclight Film’s Gary Hamilton.

William said Signature is “extremely pleased” to be bringing Harlin’s “super entertaining thriller” to U.K. and Irish audiences. “The top-level cast add brilliant performances and heart to a rollicking crowd pleaser of an action spectacle.”

Hamilton added: “We’re excited to continue our great relationship with Marc and Elizabeth and the rest of Signature team on Arclight blockbuster Deep Water.“

U.S. star Eckhart is best known for his performance opposite Julia Roberts in 2000’s Erin Brockovich, and later, in Christopher Nolan’s Batman film The Dark Knight as DA Harvey Dent (and Two-Face). Kingsley, on the other hand, is a British actor who became an Academy Award winner for Richard Attenborough’s 1982 movie Gandhi. He’s also famed for Bugsy and Sexy Beast.

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CIISA To Launch Whistleblowing Service For Film & TV In September

Published

29 minutes ago

May 14, 2026

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Nearly five years after the Noel Clarke scandal, Britain’s independent bullying and harassment complaints body is finally about to launch its landmark whistleblowing service.

The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will roll out its hotline in September and says those who report concerns to CIISA may be entitled to additional legal protections under UK whistleblowing law, including where they may have previously signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).

That is because CIISA has become an officially recognized whistleblowing body by the UK government, giving it additional protections and allowing people who have signed NDAs to report behavior. What is termed a Public Interest Disclosure Order will come into force on June 2, meaning CIISA will be designated a ‘Prescribed Person’ for whistleblowing disclosures relating to the film, TV, music and theater sectors.

Setting out its strategic vision for the next three years in a report titled Empowering Creativity by Protecting People, CIISA said the reporting service will launch this September, focusing on “building a clearer picture of the behaviours and practices affecting people across the sector.” It will be followed in 2026-27 by an independent reporting service to help create data sets and an “early intervention function” the following year to “identify patterns and deal with problems before they escalate.”

The idea is that CIISA could log bullying and harassment complaints about a certain individual working across different projects and help intervene at an early stage. CIISA emerged from the Clarke scandal and Time’s Up UK movement in summer 2021, when the Doctor Who star was accused by more than 20 women of misconduct, allegations that he has always denied.

Since then, there have been several high-profile incidences including Gregg Wallace and Russell Brand, both of whom also deny the allegations made against them.

But funding has been hard to come by and CIISA, which is backed by stars like Keira Knightley and Naomie Harris, has been slow to get its reporting service off the ground. CIISA has been seeking annual donations from the big broadcasters and streamers and the likes of the BBC, ITV, Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery have pledged to donate annually. Others like Channel 4, Disney and Amazon hadn’t as of last summer, while Netflix was declining comment.

As of today, Channel 4 said it “has made substantial financial contributions over the past two years towards [CIISA’s] development and we will be registering with CIISA.” Disney remain in constructive discussions with CIISA, Deadline understands. Netflix once again declined comment on whether it will fund the body and Amazon hadn’t responded to a request for comment by press time.

Deadline understands a register of CIISA donors will launch publicly but not for another year or so. The body will also move to a “register model” to help fund its activities, which it said will “enable registered organisations to celebrate their association and commitment to embedding the CIISA Standards.” Those standards were forged last year and include a commitment to ‘Safe Working Environments’, ‘Inclusive Working Environments’, ‘Open and Accountable Reporting Mechanisms’ and ‘Responsive Learning Cultures’.

The NDA news is a big boon for CIISA. Victims of Harvey Weinstein have spoken in the past about being gagged by NDAs. In the UK, new legislation recently banned NDAs being used by employers to silence employees subjected to harassment and abuse.

CIISA boss Jen Smith said: “I’m proud to set out our strategic vision for the next three years, which feels particularly significant in a moment of real momentum as CIISA is recognised as an independent whistleblowing body for film, TV, music and theatre, and as we open our registration model. Registering with CIISA enables organisations to make a visible commitment to collectively preventing the harmful behaviours that have no place in our sector; together we will drive real change that will benefit all those who make the UK’s creative sector so extraordinary.”

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Lucy Hale to Star in ‘A Young Widow’s Guide to Life’

Published

39 minutes ago

May 14, 2026

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Pretty Little Liars alum Lucy Hale is set to lead a new romance, A Young Widow’s Guide to Life, with international sales launching in Cannes.

The film will be directed by rising filmmaker Mackenzie Munro and produced by Pascal Borno, Alain Gillissen, Silvio Muraglia and Jack Greenbaum. Principal photography will commence this September in Italy.

Written by Katrina Day Schaefer, A Young Widow’s Guide to Life follows Tess Fuller (Hale), a 30-year-old widow who remains emotionally stuck five years after the death of her husband. “On the anniversary of his passing, Luke’s childhood friend publishes a letter he left behind asking the town to help Tess create a list of things to try to start over and move on with her life,” a plot synopsis reads.

“Reluctantly, Tess starts checking items off the list and slowly reconnects with life, love, and herself. As she develops a connection with a charming single father and professor named Marcus, Tess must decide whether she is ready to open her heart again — or if she still needs time to find herself first. After an emotional turning point, she embarks on a solo road trip that ultimately helps her let go of the past and embrace a new chapter.”

The project marks another commercial movie role for Hale, whose recent film F*** Marry Kill topped Hulu in 2025. The star is best known for TV hit Pretty Little Liars, as well as Truth or Dare and The Hating Game.

Munro, meanwhile, began her career in film production as a teenager and went on to direct projects for Facebook Watch, Crypt TV and The Shade Room before making her feature debut with Salvation. She recently wrapped production on Stampede and Wattpad’s Chasing Red, starring Riverdale‘s Madelaine Petsch and The Summer I Turned Pretty‘s Gavin Casalegno.

Producers Pascal Borno and Alain Gillissen of Angel Oak Films are bringing A Young Widow’s Guide to Life to Cannes with the aim of securing international distribution partners ahead of production. A deal with Andreas Klein’s German powerhouse, Splendid Films, was closed here on the Croisette for German-speaking territories.

“We are so excited to bring this unique project to Cannes and introduce it to our key buyers,” said Borno. “We are particularly proud of being involved with an established as well as dynamic star, Lucy Hale, and pairing her with another young female rising star, director Mackenzie Munro. This incredible unique script combined with these two incredible women is a winning combination.”