The second season of the Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren-starring Yellowstone spin-off 1923 has been postponed because of the ongoing US writers’ strike.
NBC Montana announced on June 8 that the second season of 1923, which is now being produced in Butte, Montana, has been postponed indefinitely. Last Monday, the group was supposed to return to Butte, but nothing of the kind has transpired.
The production is also paying Butte-Silver Bow a reported $75,000 a month in order to use the Civic Center. They have now requested a 10-day extension of this contract, which was supposed to finish at the end of the year. They are awaiting approval from the City-Council Commission.
Further extension requests have not been ruled out, reportedly, but the Civic Center is ready for production to resume. However, it is unclear when that will be as it can only happen when an agreement is reached with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA).
The WGA is striking in an effort to negotiate fairer pay. Writers are paid a sum for their work but receive further payment if a show becomes successful on broadcast TV. However, they do not get these bonuses in streaming work. Instead, they receive a one-and-done payment.
The WGA wants to change that to align with how writers are paid in broadcast TV.
What could complicate the 1923 production returning to work, however, is the fact that the Screen Actors’ Guild has said they will go on strike in support of writers if an agreement hasn’t been found by the end of this month.
This is not the only project to be affected by the strike. Daredevil: Born Again, Severance, and The Last of Us, among other films and TV shows, have all also been affected.All episodes of 1923 are available to stream now on Paramount+. Yellowstone season five airs on the same platform.