While Sons of Anarchy fans were rejoicing over its creator’s new project for Netflix, Deadline reported that there were some problems behind the scenes. Kurt Sutter was in the middle of production on the western series The Abandons for the platform but abruptly left the set.
‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator leaves new series
His new fiction, for which he served as showrunner, is a period drama set in Oregon in the 1850s and tells the story of how abandoned souls living on the fringes of society unite into several tribes to form a family and fight against the corrupt forces of power that covet their land.
The Abandons brings together an exceptional cast, including Gillian Anderson, Lena Headey, Nick Robinson, Lucas Till, Ryan Hurst, Lamar Johnson, Michiel Huisman, Aisling Franciosi and Patton Oswalt.
There were just a few weeks of production left to wrap the entire first season of the series, but Kurt Sutter left the project due to creative differences, according to Deadline.
Netflix has seen early cuts of The Abandons episodes, including the pilot, which was film-length. It was eventually split into two episodes, and the change required additional scenes to be filmed.
There are precedents with the creator of “Sons of Anarchy”
Despite the incident, filming on The Abandons will continue, with executive producer and director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins overseeing the remainder of the series’ production, which is expanding from six to seven episodes, and reshoots in Calgary, Canada.
This isn’t the first time Kurt Sutter has had creative disagreements with network and platform executives. In 2019, the writer and producer was fired from the Sons of Anarchy spinoff series Mayans MC, which he co-created with Elgin James.
This followed an investigation by FX into complaints from writers, producers and actors who reported a hostile work environment with Kurt Sutter. The latter initially disputed the allegations before acknowledging the excesses of his behavior while pointing to the creative control of Disney, which owns FX, which had allegedly created a “repulsive” conflict.
The series “The Abandons” is expected for 2025 on Netflix.
You may also like:
