Kurt Sutter Exits His Netflix Western ‘The Abandons’

Netflix and creator Kurt Sutter have parted ways on the streamer’s western The Abandons.

Sutter, who created the drama and was serving as showrunner, left the show over creative differences with Netflix. The Abandons, set in the Oregon Territory in the 1850s, has a few weeks of production on its season remaining and will continue filming in Calgary, Alberta.

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Netflix declined comment.

Netflix gave a straight-to-series order to The Abandons in October 2022. The series, which stars Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson, centers on a group of outlier families in 1850s Oregon who come together to fight a corrupt, wealthy power that wants to force them off their land. The cast also includes Nick Robinson, Diana Silvers, Lamar Johnson, Natalia del Riego, Lucas Till, Aisling Franciosi, Toby Hemingway, Michael Greyeyes, Ryan Hurst, Katelyn Wells, Clayton Cardenas, Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Brían F. O’Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Patton Oswalt, Michael Ornstein, Jonathan Koensgen, Jack Doolan, Michiel Huisman, Haig Sutherland and Sarah White.

The series order from Netflix came about three years after Sutter was fired from FX’s Mayans MC for being, as Sutter put it at the time, an “abrasive dick” on set. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that there had been multiple complaints about his behavior on the series. Co-creator Elgin James took over as showrunner for the remainder of Mayans‘ run, which went for a total of five seasons and 50 episodes on FX.

Sources say Sutter’s departure from The Abandons came after Netflix saw rough cuts of the series’ first episodes; the premiere came in at nearly feature-film length and was eventually split into two episodes, which necessitated additional scenes. Executive producer and director Otto Bathurst and co-EP Rob Askins will oversee the remainder of the shoot.

Deadline first reported the news.

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