This Neo-Western From Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan Is A Global Netflix Sensation

Nobody could've predicted how big a phenomenon the TV series "Yellowstone" would become. In fact, even the show's star, Kevin Costner, had his fears about the production before it even got underway. But the modern Western drama took off, and since then, creator Tayler Sheridan has built quite the television empire comprised of various "Yellowstone" spinoffs and other series like "Mayor of Kingstown," "Tulsa King," and "Lioness."

Now, Sheridan's television shows also don't go easy on their actors, with Sylvester Stallone saying "Tulsa King" is the hardest he's ever worked on a production. Even so, he's managed to get a number of Hollywood A-listers, many of whom have previously done little to no television, to star in his various series.

But while he's best known for his television work these days, Sheridan does have several films under his belt. One of those movies, "Wind River," spent years as a largely overlooked neo-Western before it hit Netflix in September 2025, where it suddenly found the audience it always deserved. The film quickly entered the streamer's top 10, racking up millions of views and holding its own against perennial favorites like "Shrek" and "Good Will Hunting." "Wind River" also marked the first time Jeremy Renner worked under Sheridan, before they would later re-team for "Mayor of Kingstown." 

In "Wind River," Jeremy Renner plays a tracker for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who teams with Elizabeth Olsen's FBI agent to investigate a murder on the titular Wyoming reservation. While Sheridan doesn't exclusively make Westerns, that's clearly his wheelhouse. "Wind River" marked his second venture into that genre after his previous film, "Hell or High Water," both of which set the stage for his huge revival of the world on television with the "Yellowstone" franchise. "Wind River" received high critical acclaim, earning an 87% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences awarded it a 90% on the Popcornmeter.

Sheridan actually considers his first three movies to be a thematic trilogy, — the first three that he wrote, anyway — with "Wind River" being the final installment following "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water." His directorial debut, the horror film "Vile," was written by someone else. Sheridan also wrote the movies "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," "Without Remorse," and "Those Who Wish Me Dead," the last of which is the only one of those three that he also directed.