The hit Paramount Network drama Yellowstone is getting its own prequel series on Paramount Plus, titled Y: 1883. An extended sneak peek at the upcoming show will allegedly air sometime during the CBS broadcast of Super Bowl LV, according to recent press release. The official Paramount Plus YouTube channel uploaded a ten-second video informing Yellowstone fans that they can reasonably expect Y: 1883 to arrive on the streamer later in 2021.
Y: 1883 will be set in the nineteenth century, meaning its subjects will be the antecedents of Yellowstone‘s Dutton clan: “The [family] embarks on a journey west through the Great Plains towards the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land– Montana,” via Drop the Spotlight.
Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan (Wind River, Sicario) is shepherding the development of Y: 1883 as part of his newly extended multi-year deal with Paramount Plus parent company ViacomCBS, Drop the Spotlight reports. The agreement allegedly commits the writer to five cycles of procedural and original scripted television programming per year and terminates in 2028, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition to managing Paramount Plus’s Yellowstone franchise, Sheridan is also working on Lioness, contemporary espionage drama based on the work of an all-female American military unit, as reported by Deadline.
Offering a preview of Y: 1883 during Super Bowl LV could prove to be the marketing move that ensures the smooth launch of Paramount Plus. ViacomCBS employed a similar tactic a couple of years ago, back when their main SVOD service went by the name of CBS All Access. The first teaser trailer for the streamer’s Twilight Zone reboot hosted by Academy Award winner Jordan Peele (Get Out, Candyman) likely piqued the interest of many football spectator when it aired during a Super Bowl LIII commercial break, as reported by Slash Film. Less than three weeks after the event, CBS reported that they had reached their overall subscriber goal of eight million individual users two years ahead of schedule and two months in advance of The Twilight Zone‘s set premiere date, according to CNBC.
Paramount Plus launches on March 4. Subscribers have choice of paying either $5.99 a month to experience the service with limited commercial interruptions or $9.99 a month to enjoy ad-free viewing, CinemaBlend reports. Current CBS All Access users will be required to download new app on their television-viewing devices of choice, according to CinemaBlend.