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Posted on 09/12/2026 9:37:16 AM PDT by DFG
Larry McMurtry’s classic Lonesome Dove novel is returning to television as a Netflix series. The streamer has greenlighted the Western drama from Zoe Kazan and Jeb Stuart, co-showrunners of Netflix’s upcoming East of Eden limited series, and Teton Ridge Entertainment.
Independent studio Teton Ridge Entertainment, which focuses on American West stories, announced in February that it had acquired the rights to the Lonesome Dove literary franchise for film and television. It brought in Kazan and Stuart to write the adaptation and took the package out in late April. By early May, in a very competitive situation, Lonesome Dove had laded at Netflix with a straight-to-series order.
As to why it took four months for the streamer to confirm the show, word is that there were some gaps in the complex web of necessary rights that had to be secured before Netflix could proceed with the greenlight, a process that has now been completed.
Lonesome Dove, which is envisioned as an ongoing series, follows Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call who renew their spirit of adventure as they face an uncertain future, embarking on one final, perilous cattle drive from the Rio Grande to the untamed wilderness of Montana in pursuit of a dream that they have perhaps already outlived. These two former Texas Rangers lead an unforgettable cast of characters across the American west in this sweeping odyssey defined by unrequited longing, unbreakable friendship, brutal frontier justice, and an unwavering pursuit of a meaningful life.
Kazan and Stuart are taking on McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel after tackling John Steinbeck’s East Of Eden for the upcoming Netflix limited series starring Florence Pugh, which premieres Oct. 1. The duo served as co-showrunners on East of Eden, which was written by Kazan.
“After our singular experience on East of Eden, we are thrilled to be teaming with Netflix again, along with Teton Ridge Entertainment, to bring Larry McMurtry’s western classic to life,” Kazan and Stuart said in a statement. “We come to this material with love and respect, and can’t wait to hit the trail with Gus and Call and the rest of these beloved characters. Yee-haw.”
Kazan and Stuart executive produce Lonesome Dove alongside Thomas Tull, Jillian Share and Jen Gorton of Teton Ridge Entertainment; Jon Jashni; late McMurtry’s longtime creative partner Diana Ossana; Curtis McMurtry of the McMurtry Estate.
“Lonesome Dove is one of the great American stories, and there was no question we wanted to follow Zoe and Jeb wherever they went next,” said Jinny Howe, Netflix Head of Scripted Series, UCAN. “After East of Eden, we know exactly what they’re capable of — the depth of character, the sweep of place, the emotional precision. This material deserves that level of care. In their hands, it’s going to be something extraordinary. We’re excited to partner with Teton Ridge to bring this legendary story to life.”
Published in 1986 by Simon & Schuster, McMurtry’s novel — the first in the Lonesome Dove book series — spent 24 consecutive weeks in hardcover and 28 consecutive weeks in paperback on NYT’s Bestseller list, selling over 4 million copies.
It was turned into a hit 1989 miniseries by CBS. Starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, the four-part Lonesome Dove pulled in an some 26M viewers and won a Peabody, seven Emmys and two Golden Globes. The subsequent books in the Lonesome Dove series were also adapted into miniseries.
“Lonesome Dove is the kind of story that only comes along once in a generation. Its characters, scope and deeply human portrait of the American West have made it an enduring classic, and we see an extraordinary opportunity to bring Larry McMurtry’s world to a new generation of audiences,” said Jillian Share, President, Teton Ridge Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to partner with Netflix and for Zoe and Jeb to reimagine this landmark story while preserving the heart and spirit that have made Lonesome Dove so beloved.”
Stuart is repped by UTA, Kaplan Perrone, and Hansen Jacobson. Ossana is repped by UTA and Anonymous Content.
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Netflix? Is the story line going to be Lonesome Dove meets Brokeback Mountain?
There’s no need for this - the Robert Duvall/Tommy Lee Jones mini-series is excellent. And in 2026 Hollywood can be trusted to ruin anything it touches.
Why? No actor can hold a candle to Robert Duvall.
Then I realized that the characters are going to be gender swapped wokesters. The plot with have strong elements of Brokeback Mountain.
We’re thrilled to partner with Netflix and for Zoe and Jeb to reimagine this landmark story while preserving the heart and spirit that have made Lonesome Dove so beloved.”
Because reimagining has worked so well over the last 20 years…no thanks, I’ll keep the classic.
They can never replace Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones.
As bad as redoing Harry Potter.
If this is the same Jeb Stuart of Jeb Stuart Productions that I met, there are some local folks who invested large sums in some of his films and ended up getting royalty checks for slightly over a dollar.
Can’t they do anything original, anymore?
we recently re-watched the lonesome dove series after not having seen it since it originally came out ... the acting, story telling, dialog, sets, and cinematography are all absolutely brilliant, and we remarked that no one today would spend the money to produce something this perfect ...
[our only complaint was that they were still obviously still in new mexico when they supposedly entered and settled in montana, which is SUPPOSED to be knee deep in green grass, where as the “montana” they were supposedly in was obviously still the near-desert of new mexico]
“Why? No actor can hold a candle to Robert Duvall.”
agree ... one of the most brilliant acting jobs we’ve ever seen ...
Probably will get black guys to play the leads.
“reimagine this landmark story”
a VERY, VERY, VERY bad sign ... they just admitted they’re going to ignore almost everything from the book and make up their own story ...
i hope they spend hundreds of millions of dollars “reimagining” lonesome dove and having it totally flopping plus massive ridicule ...
The main reason I canceled Netflix is because they couldn’t make a movie without two guys kissing. I will lay odds the same thing will happen with this movie.
And it will still exist after this one comes out.
They could at least name it something original like Lonesome Parrots.
Already been done.
“Can’t they do anything original, anymore?”
no ... and the sad thing is that there are hundreds of incredible novels and real life stories that COULD be made into incredibly entertaining movies that would make tens of millions of dollars ...
for example, i just finished re-reading a book that few have heard of called “Tank Sergeant”, which is about the exploits of tanks in the vietnam war ... this is a book i highly recommended for it’s readability and the amazing true stories of tanks in vietnam ... this book could EASILY be adapted for the big screen and become a major hit IF talented movie makers produced the story ...
They’ll never better the original. One of the very few TV series that was just as good as the novel. Rereading the book after watching the series was especially enjoyable because I could envision Gus and Woodrow as Tommy Lee and Bobby D.
Westerns are cheap to make. All you need are some outdoor locations, some costumes, and some horses. No expensive exotic locations. No digital effects. No big action set pieces with explosions. It’s not Netflix’s business model to spend hundreds of millions, nor can it “flop” because they don’t rely on box office. They’re creating content for their platform and if it comes in at their price, it’s one more piece of content.
And if anyone knows how to run the numbers, it’s Netflix.
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