Western TV creator Taylor Sheridan has confirmed a major decision that’s set to reshape the future of his Yellowstone franchise. The first sequel to the franchise’s original series has now officially been canceled, almost six years after it was initially announced by Paramount. Sheridan has turned his attention to developing the story of the Dutton family in other ways.
This cancellation has cleared the path for him to get more involved in the writing and production of Dutton Ranch season 2, which serves as a direct continuation of Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler’s character arcs from the main show. Beth and Rip’s Yellowstone spinoff arrived late in the day, though, deep into the development of a series set at a real working ranch due northwest of their new Texan homestead.
Sheridan first shared his plans to set a TV show at the Four Sixes Ranch in King County, Texas in February 2021. He was in the process of buying the ranch himself, and soon featured it in a backdoor pilot for what was meant to be the first offshoot of Yellowstone set in the modern day, 6666. It saw Yellowstone ranch hand Jimmy Hurdstrom take a job at the Four Sixes. But updates around 6666 ran dry for quite some time in recent years.
Initially, it appeared that Taylor Sheridan’s idea of shooting a drama series at a fully-functioning ranch simply needed additional time to be developed in practical terms. However, in August 2026, Sheridan revealed that 6666 is officially dead as a Yellowstone spinoff, because he’s completely changed his mind about making the show.
Taylor Sheridan’s First Yellowstone Sequel Was Supposed To Be 6666
Paramount announced the development of 6666 in a statement on February 24, 2021. The studio’s statement included the following logline for this spinoff series set at arguably the most famous ranch in the history of Texas:
“Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing … The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.”
“Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing … The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.”
As a native Texan with an affinity for the Old West, Taylor Sheridan grew up revering the Four Sixes Ranch, and seemed to be fulfilling a lifelong dream when he purchased it following the death of its owner in December 2020. Sheridan bringing Yellowstone to the 6666 via Jimmy Hurdstrom felt like he was making the perfect match.
In the end, it was too good to be true. Once the TV mogul got his feet under the table at the Four Sixes, he must have realized the scale of the challenge that bringing to the screen a dramatized version of actual life at the ranch involved. It appears that he also began to feel increasingly uncomfortable about exposing this piece of real-life Western history to the glare of Hollywood cameras.
This second aspect of his change of heart came through during a podcast interview he gave to Rodeo Time in August 2026, when he confirmed that 6666 wasn’t going forward as a series. Speaking about what he’d be doing to the real Four Sixes ranchers by making the show, Sheridan said the following:
“I’m trivializing and fictionalizing something where real people work, and they raise their families there, and I could never do that to them. I could never do that to the cowboys that dedicated themselves, and everybody that works on that ranch. I’m very protective of the Sixes, and it’s a big responsibility to be the person who has to protect that ranch, so I have to be very, very careful with it.”
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“I’m trivializing and fictionalizing something where real people work, and they raise their families there, and I could never do that to them. I could never do that to the cowboys that dedicated themselves, and everybody that works on that ranch. I’m very protective of the Sixes, and it’s a big responsibility to be the person who has to protect that ranch, so I have to be very, very careful with it.”
He suggested that he had “never” intended to make the spinoff series after all, which directly contradicts the announcement Paramount put out in February 2021, and subsequent reports that the Yellowstone season 4 episode “Under a Blanket of Red” was a backdoor pilot for 6666. In any case, the death of this spinoff is good news for the franchise’s other Texas-based sequel.
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6666 Getting Canceled Is Good News For Dutton Ranch
According to Beth Dutton actor Kelly Reilly, Taylor Sheridan’s direct involvement in Dutton Ranch has increased ahead of season 2. Sheridan has already replaced the series showrunner, is part of the storyboarding and writing process for this second season, and it now seems to be the TV Western to which he’s devoting most of his attention.
It makes sense that Sheridan should be so attached to Dutton Ranch in particular, given that it features Yellowstone‘s best couple, and is the first show in the franchise to be set in Sheridan’s home state, Texas. If he were still working on 6666 at the same time, he wouldn’t be able to devote nearly as much attention as he is to Beth and Rip’s story.
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It helps that Dutton Ranch is already enormously popular, breaking season 1 viewership records for Paramount+. 6666 would have been more of a gamble in commercial terms, with only one minor character from Yellowstone thrown into a new environment without much backstory to work with. On the other hand, perhaps there’s an opportunity to feature the Four Sixes Ranch in an upcoming Dutton Ranch storyline, given that Rip Wheeler is already familiar with the place. Its owner will have the final say, of course.
Dutton Ranch
Dutton Ranch follows Rip Wheeler and Beth Dutton as they attempt to start anew in South Texas. Faced with the challenges of redefining their future, they confront the realities of their new environment and a competing ranch intent on safeguarding its own territory.
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