Lawmen: Bass Reeves trailer reveals 'wicked' Western series shot near Fort Worth

Hollywood in Cowtown

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A series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan that's been filming near Fort Worth for months has revealed a sneak peek, and it seems "wicked days" are ahead: Paramount+ has dropped the first teaser trailer for Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

Sheridan's newest Western drama stars British actor David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves, a former slave who became one of the first Black U.S. deputy marshals west of the Mississippi River in 1875. Reeves is believed to have been the inspiration for the fictional character the Lone Ranger.

Originally announced as a Yellowstone spinoff called 1883: Bass Reeves, the title has changed, and it's now not considered part of the Yellowstone universe, a rep for the show says. None of the Yellowstone/1883/Dutton family characters will be in the show.

In the 20-second teaser, Oyelowo rides a horse across a field and introduces himself as Reeves in a voiceover. "I'm the law of this land, I'm Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves," he says. Then he then looks directly into the camera and declares, "and your wicked days are done."

There are flashes of guns shooting, cannons firing, and a house burning. A tagline reads: "The legend you know. The truth you don't."

According to Vanity Fair, Lawmen: Bass Reeves will be an eight-part anthology series that will premiere later this year on Paramount+. Sheridan and Oyelowo are executive producers.

The cast includes Dennis Quaid, Donald Sutherland, Mo Brings Plenty, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, and Barry Pepper.

Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker announced in September 2022 that Bass Reeves filming would be coming to Fort Worth, following Yellowstone prequel 1883, which filmed around the city in 2021. Sheridan is an honorary Fort Worthian who attended Pascal High School and lives on a ranch in Weatherford.

Shooting for Bass Reeves started in early 2023, and many locals got cast as extras. The production was based in Fort Worth and scenes were filmed in Weatherford, Waxahachie, Stephenville, and Palo Pinto County.

"We were honored to have this production based in Fort Worth during filming and are looking forward to the series premiere later this year," the Fort Worth Film Commission posted on Facebook with a link to the trailer.

Photo courtesy of Paramount+

Fort Worth-shot '1883' coming to Paramount Network for limited run

Revisiting 1883

Fans of 1883, circle Sunday, June 18 on your calendar: Taylor Sheridan's Fort Worth-shot Yellowstone prequel is coming to Paramount Network for an encore performance.

According to Deadline, the special broadcast of Episode 1 (set in Fort Worth) begins at 7 pm Sunday, June 18, with subsequent episodes airing each week. All 10 episodes will include extended featurettes at the end of each episode.

Again, this is Paramount Network (home to Yellowstone) and not the streaming service Paramount+, so non-streamers who missed out on the award-winning series the first time around can catch this go-round through their cable provider or any other way they access cable networks.

Yellowstone and 1883 follow the lives of the Duttons, first with the modern-day Western drama of the John Dutton family, then with the late 19th-century story of James and Margaret Dutton’s move west across the U.S.

Parts of 1883 were filmed in and around Fort Worth and North Texas in late summer of 2021 - convenient for Sheridan, who went to Fort Worth's Paschal High School and lives on a ranch in Weatherford. The Hollywood cast and crew rolled into Granbury, Weatherford, and in the Fort Worth Stockyards — where an Old West set was constructed and streets were blocked off for filming. Local fans made a sport of following the stars around town, posting glimpses on social media and generating local buzz.

The series stars country supercouple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as patriarch and matriarch James and Margaret Dutton; Hollywood legend Sam Elliott as Shea Brennan, Billy Bob Thornton as U.S. Marshal Jim Courtright; and Isabel May as the Duttons' teenage daughter and the series' narrator.

1883 debuted in December 2021 on Paramount+ and reportedly set a premiere record of 4.9 million households. Elliott earned a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for his role.

Powered by the success of the shows, Fort Worth shot onto a prestigious list of top filmmaking cities for first time; the city landed at No. 25 on Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker, an annual list compiled by Los Angeles-based publication MovieMaker.

While 1883 did not get renewed for a second season, Sheridan moved on to 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. Yellowstone's newest spinoff, 1883: Bass Reeves, is currently being filmed in North Texas.

And there's a new Texas connection: Actor Matthew McConaughey is starring in yet another spinoff, as Yellowstone is expected to end after the current season.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

Texas' Matthew McConaughey in talks with Taylor Sheridan for 'Yellowstone' spinoff, report says

'Yellowstone' news

The Dutton family drama has come to Texas again - this time, off screen.

According to a February 6 report by Deadline, Matthew McConaughey is in talks with Taylor Sheridan for a Yellowstone spinoff. Neither the Austin-based actor nor the Weatherford-based series creator has confirmed the report, but Deadline typically gets its Yellowstone scoops right.

Exactly WHY McConaughey may enter the Yellowstone world, however, has whipped media and fans into a frenzy. Deadline says it "understands" that Sheridan will end the show after this season due to scheduling conflicts with star Kevin Costner. Costner just won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of family patriarch John Dutton but also is directing and starring in the Western series Horizon.

"For the second batch of episodes of the current, fifth season of Yellowstone, the actor ... only wanted to spend a week shooting," the magazine says. "This has been a source of frustration for Sheridan and it is understood to be causing morale problems for the other stars of the show."

Deadline's sources tell them that Paramount Network has declined Costner’s most recent proposal and "instead has made the decision to move on to the other show."

Enter McConaughey, the cowboy-hatted hero, riding in on his horse to save the day. Sheridan will write McConaughey in as the star of the new franchise; they're in negotiations now, reports say.

In response to Deadline's reporting, Paramount Network issued a "hold your horses" statement: "We have no news to report," they say. "Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner."

It's not known where the McConaughey-led series would be set, or where it would be filmed.

North Texans, of course, will vote for North Texas.

DFW is already the home of Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming Paramount+ limited series about Bass Reeves, the once-enslaved man who became a famed federal marshal; the series is reportedly filming in Waxahachie later this month. Sheridan's Yellowstone prequel 1883 also was shot in Fort Worth.

Texas, as a whole, is home to five of the top 25 best cities for filmmakers, according to MovieMaker Magazine.

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'Yellowstone' meet-and-greet tops this week's 5 hottest Fort Worth headlines

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. 'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. There was exciting news for Yellowstone fans this week: Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler," and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, announced they were coming the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo to meet fans and sign autographs.

2. TV channel centered on cowgirls launches in Fort Worth Stockyards. A new TV network called The Cowgirl Channel, a spinoff of the Cowboy Channel, is launching and will be headquartered in the Fort Worth Stockyards. It will feature content centered around Western sports for women, including barrel racing, breakaway roping, women's ranch rodeo, and more.

3. Legendary Longhorn Ballroom reveals first acts to perform at restored North Texas venue. The big acts are coming out for Dallas' famed Longhorn Ballroom, slated for a comeback in spring 2023. The historic venue, currently in the final throes of a renovation, is anticipated to softly reopen at the end of March, and already has shows on the books by epic performers including Emmylou Harris.

4. New Fort Worth ghost tour showcases the spookier side of the Stockyards. A national travel company is showing off the scary side of the Fort Worth Stockyards with the launch of a brand new ghost tour. US Ghost Adventures, an Orlando-based company that hosts ghost tours in some of the most haunted cities in the country, has just added Fort Worth to its list of tour locations.

5. DFW-based Cinemark theater chain hosts Oscars-themed movie marathon. The Cinemark movie chain is giving movie buffs an opportunity to brush up on the Oscars. Plano-based Cinemark Holdings, Inc. will host its annual Oscar Movie Week festival, this year running from Monday, March 6 through Sunday, March 12, in anticipation of the 95th Oscars ceremony, which airs on March 12 on ABC.

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'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Yellowstone news

Yellowstone fans, get your comfy shoes ready - there'll be a long line for this one. Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler" on Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, will meet fans and sign autographs at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

The event will take place from 4:30-6:30 pm only on Friday, February 3. Location is the 6666 Ranch booth near the south end of Aisle 700 in the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall.

According to a February 2 announcement from FWSSR, "fans will have the opportunity to snag an autograph as well as purchase some distinctive Yellowstone and 6666 Ranch merchandise while also enjoying all the features the Stock Show offers."

The event is free to attend (with paid Stock Show admission) and open to the public.

It's the second year in a row for Hauser to appear at FWSSR; in 2022, he and fellow cast mates drew huge crowds.

Sheridan, a Paschal High School graduate, is no stranger to Fort Worth; he lives in a ranch near Weatherford and filmed 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone, in and around Fort Worth. Currently, another spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, is filming in North Texas.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is winding up its 2023 run on Saturday, February 4.

Quonset hut in south Fort Worth to be transformed into ballroom

Quonset Hut News

A Quonset hut in south Fort Worth is about to make a Cinderella-like transformation: Called the Quonset Ballroom, it's being developed into an entertainment space which will host live music, food trucks, and events.

The hut is located at 2608 W. Dickson St., and was previously home to a lawn care operator for 30 years.

Husband-and-wife Jason and Hedy Peña stumbled onto it while searching for a new location for Hedy’s insurance agency, Armor Texas Insurance Agency. They landed at 2612 Dickson St., a cool mid-century office building built in 1957, which was ideal for the agency, even despite its offbeat address in a heavily industrial area.

“It was a piece of property where we could locate the office and it also had this 4,000-square foot Quonset hut next door,” Hedy says. "We started thinking about creating a venue which could be rented for parties, weddings, and social events."

Quonset huts are sprinkled across the Dallas-Fort Worth landscape, most dating back to the 1940s, shortly after the structure was first invented at Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island.

Fort Worth is also currently in thrall with Quonset huts, thanks to the hip PS1200 mixed-use development near the Medical District which opened in July.

This one was built in 1948, and will require an overhaul, including new flooring, AC, and framing, with a planned-for capacity of 250 people.

Even as they work on the revamp, the Peñas have hosted private parties as well as a campaign event for Jason Peña, who ran unsuccessfully for Fort Worth city council in May 2023.

“We’ve had some private events there, but it’s not ready for a full event," Hedy says.

They currently have no plans for a bar but they're building a kitchen space to serve as a platform for the food trucks, including hookups.

The tract also has what was once a 10-car garage, which the Peñas are developing as storefronts they hope to lease as office spaces.

The industrial nature of the neighborhood initally gave them pause, but Hedy says it's turned out to be a positive, and the property itself has mature, leafy trees.

"Everything around us is industrial and at first I was uneasy about opening the insurance agency there," she says. "But the neighborhood has not deterred customers. We've even grown. And without homeowners nearby, it's a good setup if we have live music."

She envisions a spot that will eventually have a community feel, where families can dine and sit outside or inside – there will be seating – and enjoy music and conversation.

“It will be open to rent to the public, for sure, and could turn into something where it has regular hours," she says. “It will be for everyone, the public, our friends, family, so that everyone can see what we have here.”

Gamestop stock saga gets fun, star-filled movie treatment with Dumb Money

Movie review

The stock market feels like one of those aspects of American life that only a select few truly understand. The rest of us acknowledge it as something that exists and affects our lives in some way, but how and why any particular stock is traded and becomes more (or less) valuable can be a complete mystery.

Dumb Money tackles one of the most interesting recent stories to come out of the stock market, the surprising inflation of Gamestop stock in late 2020/early 2021. The film bounces around to a variety of characters, but centers mostly on Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a YouTuber who went by the name of Roaring Kitty. Gill, an amateur stock trader, took an early position about liking the lightly-regarded Gamestop stock, regularly posting videos and on the Reddit thread WallStreetBets about how his significant investment in the stock was doing.

Concurrently, hedge fund managers like Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) were actively trying to short, or bet against, the stock. That began a battle by Gill and other similarly-minded individual investors to fight back against what they saw as unfair trading practices by the big firms, resulting in Gamestop’s stock rising astronomically in a relatively short period of time.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) and written by Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the film is notable for what it is not, a deep dive into the inner workings of the stock market. Instead of getting into the nitty gritty details, the filmmakers treat it as the ultimate David vs. Goliath story, with Gill and other everyday people like a nurse, Jenny (America Ferrera), Gamestop worker Marcus (Anthony Ramos), and college student Harmony (Talia Ryder) going up against billionaires like Plotkin, Steve Cohen (Vincent D’Onofrio), Ken Griffin (Nick Offerman), and Vlad Tenev (Sebastian Stan).

Photo by Claire Folger/Sony Pictures

Paul Dano in Dumb Money.

It doesn’t hurt that Gill is an eccentric character who wears cat-emblazoned shirts and a headband, and that the Reddit community he inspires communicates primarily in memes, upping the entertainment factor of their side immensely. The story is also a suspense in a way; as the variety of individuals drive the stock ever higher, their net worth – on paper – also grows exponentially, and the longer each of them holds on without selling ups the potential that they could be burned.

Because the real-life event happened during the thick of the pandemic when it was still up in the air as to the full impact of COVID-19, the story takes on a little more significance. Characters mask up regularly, conversations take place on the phone or over Zoom, and a general feeling of unease permeates the film. That may or may not have influenced how certain people approached the situation, but in the context of the film, it definitely seems to play a part.

The back-and-forth between the haves and have-nots takes up so much time in the film that it barely has time for such well-known actors as Shailene Woodley, Dane Dehaan, Olivia Thirlby, and Pete Davidson, among others. Each of them plays a supporting character to one of the main people, and all of them deliver that little something extra in what could have been throwaway roles.

Dano is a chameleonic actor who’s gone between drama and comedy with ease throughout his career. This role is a mixture of both, and he has an effortlessness about him that makes everything he says instantly believable. Rogen is great casting as Plotkin, amiably playing the buffoon of the story. After her big role in Barbie, Ferrera once again shows that she deserves as many showcases as Hollywood can give her.

Storytellers can rarely go wrong in showing people with little power taking on those with great wealth, and the fact that the story shown in Dumb Money is (mostly) true makes it that much better. You may not understand the stock market any more than you already did at the end, but you’ll be so entertained that it won’t matter.

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Dumb Money is now playing in theaters.

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