Yellowstone Prequel 1923 Has Some New Updates!

Historic Butte will provide the backdrop for new Dutton drama 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, as production begins in Montana.

Filming has yet to begin, but the Yellowstone series is present and accounted for in Butte, Montana. Pre-production for the next historical prequel is well underway as crews construct sets and scout further locations.

It’s an exciting economic boost for the city, but citizens of Butte will need to prepare for a change in lifestyle. 1923 has already rented out the city’s Civic Center until January 2023, making it unavailable to townsfolk for the next half-year. Crews are hard at work building period-correct sets with local lumber.

As multiple Montana news stations are reporting, 1923's production crew is sourcing as much product and business locally from Butte as they can. In fact, Butte-Silver Bow officials say the preproduction phase is responsible for the creation of 160 jobs already. This could rise to 500 jobs by the time full production kicks off.

As for when that’ll be, NBC Montana cites that 1923 filming is set to begin in mid-August 2022. But even with filming only a month away, fans are still in the dark when it comes to Ford and Mirren's characters.

What we do know, however, is quite intriguing. The show’s official plot synopsis reads as follows:

"1923 focuses on the Dutton family’s next two generations as they struggle to survive historic drought, lawlessness, and prohibition, and an epidemic of cattle theft; all battled beneath the cloud of Montana’s great depression, which preceded the nation by almost a decade."

In addition, Paramount told Outsider that “1923 will account for the end of World War 1 (1918) and the start of Prohibition (1920). Both of which will be woven into the story,”

The clarification came after Taylor Sheridan chose to swap the prequel’s title & setting from 1932 to 1923. Switching gears to a decade earlier allows Sheridan, Ford, and Mirren to tell a story within the raging heart of American Prohibition instead of the end.

1923 will also now be able to address the fallout of WWI. It goes without saying, but the first World War held catastrophic consequences for nearly every facet of life. And in Sheridan’s Yellowstone mythology, the Dutton family has a long history with military service.

From Tim McGraw’s Civil War veteran, James Dutton of 1883, down to Luke Grimes' Navy SEAL, Kayce Dutton, the armed forces are integral to the Dutton’s story.

If 1923 follows this, we’re likely to see a Dutton veteran of World War I with 1923. And who better to portray them than Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.