Sam Elliott & Billy Bob Thornton Reunite for Sheridan Project With a Bold New Twist

Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton’s upcoming collaboration in Landman season 2 will excitingly differ from their previous Western team-ups. Both actors are legends in their own right. Sam Elliott’s best movies and TV shows are Westerns, which capitalize on Elliott’s gritty yet sophisticated chops. Billy Bob Thornton’s best movies show the actor’s wide range. Still, few of Thornton’s performances rival his prowess in Taylor Sheridan’s oil drama, Landman, which premiered on Paramount+ in November 2024 and garnered immediate success.

Landman season 1 tells the story of Billy Bob Thronton as Tommy Norris. In Landman’s first ten episodes, we witness the tribulations of Norris’ career as a fixer for M-TEX oil company, putting out fires, sometimes literally, for Monty Miller (John Hamm), who runs the small-scale oil business. However, Landman season 2 is set to become even more exciting, with Sam Elliott joining the cast for the show’s sophomore run. The stars have acted together in several other Western productions, which improves the prospect, and Landman season 2 can build on Elliott and Thornton’s previous collaborations.

Landman Is Sam Elliott & Billy Bob Thornton’s First Modern-Day Collaboration After 1883 & Tombstone: Tombstone And 1883 Both Take Place In The 19th Century

When Sam Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton appear onscreen together for Landman season 2, it will be in a modern-day setting, contrasting with their previous collaborations. Before Landman, the actors appeared together in 1883, Taylor Sheridan’s earliest Yellowstone prequel, a Western period set in the titular year. Elliott and Thornton also appear together in Tombstone, which is considered one of the all-time best Western movies based on real events. The 1993 film follows Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. Elliott plays Virgil Earp, Wyatt’s brother, and Thornton plays Johnny Tyler.

With Tombstone taking place in 1879, Elliott and Thornton’s previous collaborations are rooted in the past. Landman season 2 can get the actors onscreen together in the modern era, adding an exciting new element to their shared work. It will be fascinating to see Elliott’s character plug into Tommy’s modern-day drama, complete with controversy from his ex-wife, Angela (Ali Larter), and his daughter, Ainsley (Michelle Rudolph). Still, while Landman’s characters live in present-day Midland, Texas, there is no lack of lawlessness, moral ambiguity, and other Western aspects. So, the actors will maintain a key element of their shared screen presence.

Landman Has To Make Up For A Missed Opportunity From Both 1883 & Tombstone: Sam Elliott And Billy Bob Thornton Need More Shared Screentime In Landman Season 2

Aside from getting their characters out of the past, casting Sam Elliott for Landman season 2 can improve a key aspect of Elliott and Billy Bob Thornton’s other Western performances. While the actors have shared screen time in both 1883 and Tombstone, their appearances together are brief. In 1883, Thornton is in the premiere episode. Billy Bob’s character, Marshal Jim Courtright, helps Elliott’s Shea Brennan track down a group of thieves at a Fort Worth, Texas, saloon. While Courtright and Brennan have a memorable bit of classic Western gunslinging between them, Shea takes off with a wagon train of emigrants on the Oregon Trail afterward.

The Western actors have even less time together in Tombstone’s story, sharing only one scene. Thornton’s Johnny Tyler is a card dealer at a saloon, and Russell’s Wyatt Earp gets a cut of the earnings by scaring Tyler, unwanted at the saloon, out of his job. Johnny then confronts Earp in the street, but stops when he sees Kilmer’s Doc Holiday, who scares him out of his next move. Elliott and Thornton share the screen in Tombstone for a matter of moments, and they don’t directly interact. Therefore, their team-up in 1883 was already an improvement.