Taylor Sheridan’s Grittiest Sequel Roars Back With Major Update After Legal Hurdles
Years after the icy 2017 thriller Wind River left audiences clamoring for more, Taylor Sheridan is returning to the frozen frontier with a sequel that shifts the hunt to Chip Hanson—expanding the stark world Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen helped ignite.
Quick check-in on the long-quiet Wind River sequel: it sounds like it might finally be crawling out of limbo. Jason Clarke says he has seen it, loved it, and that those mysterious legal headaches are clearing up. Yes, legal headaches. Let me break down what is actually going on here.
So, what is Wind River: The Next Chapter?
- Focus: This time the story follows Chip Hanson, played by Martin Sensmeier, a smaller but memorable character from the first film.
- Cast: Martin Sensmeier leads, with Scott Eastwood and Jason Clarke among the new faces. The only returning actors from 2017 are Gil Birmingham and Sensmeier.
- Who is not back: No Taylor Sheridan, no Jeremy Renner, no Elizabeth Olsen.
- Creative team: Directed by Kari Skogland (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman.
- Plot setup: A string of ritualistic murders on the Wind River Reservation pulls Chip into an FBI investigation and right into a collision course with law enforcement, a vigilante, and his own community.
- Status: Filming is done, the movie has been in post for a while, and Clarke says the holdup has been legal — specifics unknown. No release date yet.
Jason Clarke says it is ready to surprise you
Clarke talked to ScreenRant about the movie and made it sound like the cut he saw is not just finished — it is impressive and overdue to see daylight.
"It is extraordinary. It is set within the Native community. Martin Sensmeier is the lead in that. It has got an insane cast. It is a beautiful movie. It has been locked up with the legalities, but now it is about to come out soon."
"It is going to surprise you, and it is a lot more beautiful. It is a lot more cinematic. That was when I saw it about a year and a half ago."
That last bit is striking: he saw a cut about a year and a half ago. Translation: this thing has been sitting on a shelf longer than anyone expected. The exact legal issue? Still a mystery.
Quick reminder: why the first Wind River hit so hard
Taylor Sheridan wrote and directed Wind River in 2017, with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen front and center. It is a slow-burn thriller set on the Wind River Reservation that zeroes in on violent crimes against Native women and how often those cases go unresolved. Critics praised Sheridan’s character work and the performances from Renner and Olsen, and the movie closed out Sheridan’s American Frontier trilogy after Sicario and Hell or High Water.
It also punched above its weight commercially: on an $11 million budget, it pulled in $44 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. It sits at 7.7/10 on IMDb and 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The original was produced by Voltage Pictures and, as of now, you can stream it on Netflix.
Can the sequel clear the bar?
Let’s be honest: following a movie that was both a gripping thriller and a pointed, relevant statement is tough. Add to that the fact that Sheridan, Renner, and Olsen are not involved this time, and expectations get complicated. On the flip side, Clarke calls the new one more cinematic and more beautiful, and with Skogland directing and Sensmeier stepping up as lead, there is a path for this to feel like its own thing rather than a retread.
Bottom line: Wind River: The Next Chapter is finished, stuck in legal traffic for a while, and sounds like it is finally inching toward release. As soon as there is a date, I will shout it from the rooftops — or at least from the top of this page.