This year’s TV premiere schedule has been full of Taylor Sheridan drama, and the future won’t be much different. Between finalizing Tulsa King Season 2 for its September premiere, filming Yellowstone’s final Season 5 episodes for November, and keeping fans curious about Mayor of Kingstown’s Season 4 chances, Taylor Sheridan is as busy as TV creators get. To say nothing of upcoming Yellowstone shows like 1922, 1944, and the franchise’s first number-free spinoff: The Madison.
News tied to this follow-up series first arose in the midst of the heavily reported BTS feud between Sheridan and Yellowstone star Kevin Costner, though the expectations and details were far different at the time. After a bit of quiet, the Paramount Network original is quickly coming together on the way to a production start, so let’s grab our most comfortable saddles for a quick trot through everything we know so far about The Madison.
When Is The Madison’s Premiere Date?
When the concept of a Yellowstone continuation series was first announced, the goal was to have it kick off right as the mothership series was ending, with an initial release window of November 2024 suggested at the time. Those plans were jettisoned as the development process became more complicated and less streamlined, not to mention thwarted by industry strikes.
Thus, Paramount Network currently has no exact premiere date set for The Madison, which is still in pre-production mode at the time of this writing. That said, the current plans are for the series to begin filming following the conclusion of Yellowstone’s Season 5 production, and a vague 2025 release window. It will be filming in Montana, New York, and Texas.
The Madison’s Cast List
Though casting rumors for The Madison were wholly tied to Matthew McConaughey before it was even officially happening, he and producers reportedly didn’t see eye to eye on certain matters. Other rumors surfaced later, with Kurt Russell namechecked as a possible co-lead, but he has yet to be confirmed. Now let’s take a look at those who are 100% part of the cast.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Stacy Clyburn
The Madison will be headed up by former Catwoman and Janet Van Dyne portrayer Michelle Pfeiffer, who was first rumored to be attached to the project in April 2024. This marks a change from the norm for the Oscar-nominated actress, whose only other series regular TV duties in the past 40 years came with Showtime’s The First Lady.
Patrick J. Adams as Russell McIntosh
Best known for playing Mike Ross in the legal dramedy Suits, Patrick J. Adams is heading to his first Taylor Sheridan project with The Madison, but definitely not his only TV effort in the years since Suits ended. He’s earned acclaim for his roles in The Right Stuff, A League of Their Own and Plan B, with quite a few upcoming projects, from the miniseries Lockerbie to Mae Martin’s miniseries Wayward.
Matthew Fox as Paul
Party of Five and Lost vet Matthew Fox joined the cast of The Madison, according to Deadline, as a character named Paul. After taking some years away from acting following his role in the hyper-violent western Bone Tomahawk, Fox returned to TV in 2022 with the miniseries Last Light, and co-starred in the Roku Original comedy C*A*U*G*H*T in 2023.
Elle Chapman as Paige McIntosh
For her first big TV role, actress Elle Chapman will be taking on the character Paige McIntosh. (She’d previously lent her voice for an episode of the series The Girl in the Mirror.) Chapman’s biggest break to date was in Tom Hanks’ 2022 novel adaptation A Man Called Otto, but she’ll also soon be seen in Michael O. Sajbel’s western Florida Wild opposite Mira Sorvino, Lee Majors and Chandler Riggs.
Beau Garrett as Abigail Reese
A TV vet with several shows under her belt, Beau Garrett will be joining The Madison in the role of Abigail Reese. Though her western experience largely came through two eps of Longmire, Garrett has starred in other dramas such as Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, The Good Doctor and, most recently, Firefly Lane.
Amiah Miller as Bridgette Reese
Amiah Miller, who is arguably best known as the human girl Nova from the modern Planet of the Apes movies, will enjoy the Montana landscapes as the character Bridgette Reese. Having most recently co-starred in the horror comedy feature My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Miller’s next feature effort will be opposite Sarah Paulson in the 1930s-set horror Hold Your Breath.
What Is The Madison About?
First and foremost, here’s the basic logline for The Madison as laid out by Paramount Network in the announcement:
The Madison is a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.
More specifically, a past report from TVLine states that Michelle Pfeiffer’s Stacy Clyburn is dealing with a load of grief after her husband and her brother-in-law tragically lose their lives in a plane crash. The Madison will follow her and her family’s journey from New York City to Montana.
It’s possible that Pfeiffer’s reported character name is not finalized, as it doesn’t match up with any of the other characters. But we do know that she’s the mother of Beau Garrett and Elle Chapman’s characters. Garrett’s Abigaile Reese is an adaptable and wry New Yorker whose recent divorce left her a single mother of two, with Amiah Miller playing her older daughter Bridgette.
Then we have the McIntosh family, with Patrick J. Adams and Elle Chapman playing a wealthy couple from New York who are used to living in luxury. His character Russell is an investment banker who has never strayed from his perceived life path, while Chapman’s Paige is his pampered and egotistical wife who has never been above taking handouts from her parents as well as her hubby.
At this point, it’s entirely unclear whether or not the characters noted above will be crossing paths with anyone from Paradise Valley, particularly the Dutton clan. But it seems highly likely that familiar faces will pop up.
The Madison Possibly Isn’t Replacing The ‘2024’ Sequel, Which May Still Hdappen
There are still some inconsistencies in the details regarding the various Yellowstone spinoffs, such as whether or not the tentatively titled 2024 spinoff that was announced along with 1944 is the same project that is now being dubbed The Madison. While it might seem that way from the outset, considering the timing of things, that may be a wrongful assumption.
It appears as if Puck News (via TVLine) pushed the notion that Michelle Pfeiffer’s new series isn’t actually a substitute replacement for 2024, despite her name being discussed as a replacement for Matthew McConaughey earlier in the year. One potential piece of proof is that the direct follow-up was also supposed to feature returning Yellowstone stars such as Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser and Luke Grimes.
Rumors spread in February 2024 that contractual negotiations with those actors hit snags, making it possible that they wouldn’t be able to return. The project wasn’t ever outright canceled following those reports, so it’s technically still possible that 2024 (or whatever it would be called) can still come together.
While waiting for the next chapter in Yellowstone‘s saga, the current four-and-a-half seasons of the western drama can be streamed with a Peacock subscription.