“Yellowstone,” Paramnount’s hit, modern-day Western, is coming to an end as the network cuts ties with Kevin Costner and readies spinoffs for the beloved show.
But, even as network executives prepare to try to rake in more cash from the hit show, popular with audiences because it’s one of the few non-woke shows on TV and is full of powerful, masculine characters, one actor from the show is readying to fight woke Hollywood rather than work with it.
That would be Neal McDonough, who starred alongside Costner in “Yellowstone,” playing the role of corrupt casino magnate Malcolm Beck in Season 2. Watch Neal do an interview about the show here:
In any case, McDonough claims that he was blacklisted by Hollywood over his Christian beliefs and so is going to fight back.
That blacklisting didn’t come from his “Yellowstone” role. Rather, he claimed in a recent interview that it came after he was fired from ABC’s “Scoundrels” or refusing to do certain scenes that involved sexual acts that he said violated his Christian faith.
Watch him discuss that here:
As you can see in the clip, his faith wasn’t weakened by his being punished for rater. Rather, it was that immense faith in the Almighty that kept him going after he lost almost everything. In his words
“I remember falling to my knees and saying, ‘God, why have you forgotten about me? Why am I being punished so much?’ And as soon as those words came out of my mouth, I realized what self-absorbed questions those were.
“God has given me so much. We all experience challenges in our lives. I should be grateful – and thankful – for all the blessings I’m given.”
That isn’t the only time he’s spoken about his refusal to do certain things as an actor. He told Fox News much the same thing in 2020, saying:
“I won’t mention the Lord’s name in vain, and then I won’t kiss another woman. Sex scenes aren’t in it for me. And I think, gosh, there are enough sex scenes out there, and me being in my fifties, I’m not sure if anyone wants to see me doing that stuff anyway, but it’s a comfort level. I’m not very comfortable doing that.”
And now, after recovering from being blacklisted for his faith and determination to live it out in public, Neil is back and fighting back by producing his own film. Speaking on that in an interview with the Christian Post, he said that he and his wife Ruve, a South African model, created a movie that will give the glory to God. In his words:
“Now I have that opportunity because Ruve and I are doing it ourselves, and are so blessed to have companies that support us and back us and want to make more films and TV shows, or reality shows or any kind of show that gives glory to Him. Not just to make a movie, but to do a movie that actually gives Him glory — that’s our goal. And that’s what we’re after, and we’re very fortunate to be able to do it.”
The film he produced is called “Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist.” It was a huge success on opening weekend, as Robert Price, Chief Executive Officer of Amcomri, which helped McDonough and Kevin Sorbo make the film, said in a statement. In his words:
“An Opening Weekend Box Office in excess of US$3 million is ahead of our expectations and is testament to the combined efforts of the Producer and Amcomri teams and their ability to execute an end-to-end lifecycle strategy. ’Left Behind – Rise of the Antichrist’ is Amcomri’s largest production to date and we are excited to see theaters all over North America requesting extended runs following the positive response from theatregoers.”
“‘Left Behind – Rise of the Antichrist’ highlights Amcomri’s strategic ambitions in the control of a fully diversified content library all the way from development to production and distribution. We are excited by the early response from major U.S. retailers placing orders for the DVD version of the movie, and as our distribution teams now commence international and digital sales, this movie is a clear reflection of our progress in expanding our production and distribution capabilities across global markets, including North America.”
As McDonough and Sorbo succeed with that Christian film, “Yellowstone” is drawing to an end. That’s because Paramount is cutting ties with the show’s star, Kevin Costner. We reported on that on The American Tribune this morning, saying:
A Deadline report says that the duo of Paramount and Sheridan are planning to end the story of Yellowstone in a spectacular way, before transitioning into even more spinoffs than have already been aired. One such spinoff has even been rumored to include Matthew McConaughey.
A Paramount Network spokesperson gave a statement to Deadline in which they seemed unwilling to confirm or deny the report, saying:
“We have no news to report. Kevin Costner is a big part of Yellowstone and we hope that’s the case for a long time to come. Thanks to the brilliant mind of Taylor Sheridan, we are always working on franchise expansions of this incredible world he has built. Matthew McConaughey is a phenomenal talent with whom we’d love to partner.”
Allegedly, scheduling conflicts have begun to cause a rift between Costner and Sheridan, as the actor has reportedly only made himself available for one week of shooting for the upcoming wave of episodes. Given his role as the leader of the Yellowstone Ranch, this could be problematic, if true.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
Featured image credit: Screenshot from embedded video
