‘The Abandons’: Kurt Sutter Exits His Netflix Western Drama Series!!

Kurt Sutter‘s new Netflix Western series, The Abandons, has run into a major obstacle. Sutter, who was the creator, executive producer, and showrunner of the series, has left the production following a series of disputes with Netflix. Deadline reports that the series is currently filming in Canada, and is expected to complete production in three weeks.

The series, which will star Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), is set in 1850s Oregon, where a diverse group of families have settled as part of America’s attempts to claim and tame the Wild West. Conflict arises when powerful forces attempt to force them off their land, leading them to band together. Sutter, best known as the creator of Sons of Anarchy, is said to have departed over creative differences with Netflix. The streamer balked when the series’ pilot episode came in at a feature-length runtime of an hour and forty minutes; instead of cutting it down, the production opted to split it into two episodes, with additional material shot to separate the two halves. Budget cuts at Netflix also reduced the series’ initial order from ten episodes down to seven, although the bisected pilot has upped that to eight. Executive producer/director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins will oversee the remaining three weeks of shooting in Canada.

Who Is Kurt Sutter?

A native of New Jersey, Sutter‘s first TV writing job was on FX‘s gritty crime drama The Shield. Beginning as a writer on the show’s first season, he was promoted to co-producer for season three, supervising producer for season four, and executive producer for season six. After The Shield concluded with its seventh season, Sutter created his own series for the network, the Hamlet-inspired biker gang epic Sons of Anarchy. After it concluded its own successful seven-season run, Sutter created the medieval drama The Bastard Executioner for FX; it proved less successful, and Sutter, dissatisfied with the series, ended it after a single season. He went on to create and produce the Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans MC, but was fired from the series in 2019 after multiple reports of abrasive and unprofessional behavior. He also wrote the 2015 Jake Gyllenhaal boxing drama Southpaw. Sutter has also acted on The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, and The Bastard Executioner, and had a small role in Chaos Walking.

In addition to Headey and Anderson, the series has a sprawling supporting cast that includes Nick Robinson (A Teacher), Diana Silvers (The Killer), Lamar Johnson (The Last of Us), Natalia del Riego (NCIS: Los Angeles), Lucas Till (MacGyver), Aisling Franciosi (Speak No Evil), Toby Hemingway (Battlecreek), Michael Greyeyes (Rutherford Falls), Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy), Katelyn Wells (Ginny & Georgia), Clayton Cardenas (Mayans MC), Elle-Maija Tailfeathers (Three Pines), Brían F. O’Byrne (Nightflyers), Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Patton Oswalt (Big Fan), Michael Ornstein (Mayans MC), Jonathan Koensgen (Reacher), Jack Doolan (The Boys), Michiel Huisman (The Flight Attendant), Haig Sutherland (The Flash), and Sarah White (11.22.63).