Is "Landman" Based on a True Story? Inside the Oil Boom That Disrupted West Texas and Inspired Taylor Sheridan's New Show

11/17/2024 10:30 AM

The Paramount+ show 'Landman' was inspired by recent history in the state of Texas

Taylor Sheridan's TV empire is booming.

His latest project, Landman,starring Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Hamm, premieres Nov. 17 on Paramount+ and is based on the 2019 Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown. The 12-episode audio show hosted by Christian Wallace, who also co-created Landman with Sheridan, "takes you to the heart of the historic oil boom that is playing out in West Texas."

"Boomtown was a labor of love for all of us who worked on the podcast, and nobody could have hosted but Christian, a West Texas native with roughneck experience and fantastic narrative chops," executive producer Megan Creydt told Texas Monthly in September 2024. "It's a thrill to see this story and world in Taylor Sheridan's hands and to know Christian has been so integral to a series we're all going to be glued to."

Landman, which joins a long list of Western shows created by Sheridan, is led by Thornton, Hamm, Demi Moore, Andy García and Michael Peña.

Here's everything to know about the Paramount+ series Landman and the recent history that inspired it.

Is Landman based on a true story? 

Landman is based on the Texas Monthly podcast Boomtown. The show, released in late 2019, was hosted by former TM journalist Christian Wallace, who grew up in West Texas and spent a year after college working as a "roughneck" (a member of an oil rig crew).

A major oil boom in 2019 prompted Wallace to write the article "The Permian Basin Is Booming With Oil. But at What Cost to West Texans?"It struck a chord with readers and eventually morphed into a 12-episode podcast.

Boomtown plunges into the history of the Permian Basin — located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico — and how it became one of the world's most productive oil fields. Wallace also investigated the effects of the boom — interviewing roughnecks about the dangers of working on a rig, ranchers who were being exposed to highly potent greenhouse gases and even teachers at Permian High School, whose classroom sizes have become unmanageable due to the influx of families moving to the area.

"I'm from out there. I worked out there, so I knew the people, and I wanted to tell their story in a way I'd never seen or read before," Wallace told his alma mater Texas State University in May 2022.

As for translating the podcast to television, Boomtown executive producer Creydt told CBS News Texas that viewers are in good hands with Sheridan.

"Taylor Sheridan is a Texan himself. He understands this world very well. I imagine we will see a lot of overlap with what we [heard] in the podcast," she said in September 2024.

What is Landman about? 

Set in modern-day West Texas, Landman follows crisis executive Tommy Norris, played by Thornton, who is trying to secure land and manage his crew in an oil patch in the Permian Basin. Tommy works for Hamm's character, Monty Miller, an oil industry titan otherwise known as a wildcatter.

"Oil and gas industry makes 3 billion dollars a day in pure profit, and it's only getting bigger. But before any of that money is made, you gotta secure the land then manage the people. That's my job," Tommy says in Landman's first official trailer.

"First part is pretty simple, it's the second part that can get you killed. Getting oil out of the ground is the most dangerous job in the world," he adds.

Landman's all-star cast also includes Moore as Monty's wife Cami Miller, Ali Larter as Thornton's wife, Angela Norris, and Peña as Armando, an oil crewman.

"It's a tremendous cast and it's been super fun to work on," Hamm told PEOPLE in March 2024. "It's a story very well told, and I think it's an interesting take on what happens when it comes to how we get the stuff that makes our cars and our lives and our planes and everything in our modern world go."

Where was Landman filmed? 

Landman was mostly filmed in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. This is also where Sheridan filmed scenes for a few of his other TV series, including 1883, Yellowstone and Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

While shooting Landman, fans spotted Thornton out and about on several occasions, according to WFAA. While filming, he reportedly visited a popular Tex-Mex restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's, multiple times.

Sheridan needed several background and supporting actors for Landman, andAschten Aguilar, a local West Texan and former roughneck, was among them. He shared on the Best of Midland Texas podcast in April 2024 that he brought his real-life experience to the set.

"You can always tell who has worked in the oil field by the way they park their truck," Aguilar said. "It's instilled in us that you have to take that time to pull out and reverse in. Your first move has to be forward. That's instilled in us from day one when you get a work truck. It's a culture thing."

Where can I watch Landman? 

Landman will be available to stream exclusively on Paramount+.

The first two episodes will drop on Nov. 17, followed by one episode weekly for the remainder of the season.

Will there be a season 2 of Landman? 

While speaking to Deadline in May 2024, Moore seemingly confirmed season 2 of Landman.

"I've already completed the first season, and I'm excited for us to start the second, which will be at the beginning of next year," she told the outlet.

Paramount+ has not publicly announced a second season.