‘Ransom Canyon’: Josh Duhamel & Minka Kelly To Star In Romantic Drama Series Ordered By Netflix

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read
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Netflix is expanding its romance TV brand from the California Redwoods setting of Virgin River to Texas Hill Country with Ransom Canyon, a new drama series headlined by Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Love, Simon) and Minka Kelly (Euphoria, Friday Night Lights).

Like hit Virgin River, an adaptation of Robyn Carr’s novels, the new series, from writer, creator and executive producer April Blair (Wednesday, All American), is based on a contemporary romance book series, Jodi Thomas’ Ransom Canyon.

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Also following the blueprint of Virgin River, headlined by Martin Henderson and Alexandra Breckenridge, Ransom Canyon has a duo of well known TV stars with fan following as its romantic leads in Duhamel and Kelly.

“It’s a multi-generational family show set on a ranch, and we say it’s Virgin River meets Yellowstone,” Jinny Howe, Netflix’s Head of Drama, Development, told Deadline in August 2022 about Ransom Canyon, a romance-fueled family drama and contemporary western saga that charts the intersecting lives of three ranching families, all set against the rugged expanse of Texas Hill Country.

In addition to satisfying viewers’ appetite for romance, Ransom Canyon is looking to capitalize on the resurgence of the Western genre on TV fueled by Taylor Sheridan’s ever expanding Yellowstone universe.

“It’s a contemporary Western romance show, just looking for more in this comfort romance space,” Howe added in the 2022 interview. “We think that it’s going to deliver on all the romance and again it will be a really beautiful vista and setting, very escapist.”

At the time, Ransom Canyon was still in early stages of development but Netflix brass were already high on it, with Howe telling Deadline, “we’re very excited about it; it feels very promising.”

By spring 2023, Ransom Canyon had a blinking green light contingent on casting the leads. Duhamel was in negotiations when the SAG-AFTRA strike started in July, hitting pause on the talks.

Then on Nov. 1, just days before the end of the actors work stoppage, Duhamel was announced at AFM as a star of Off The Grid, an indie feature set to start filming in January with an interim SAG-AFTRA agreement.

Netflix had to sort out the actor’s availability when talks resumed following the end of the strike. All worked out, and he and Kelly were tapped for the leads of Ransom Canyon.

In another parallel to Virgin River, Duhamel plays a local business owner and Kelly is a city woman coming to live in the small community.

Duhamel’s Staten Kirkland is the owner and sole occupant of the sprawling Double K Ranch. Steadfast and stoic, Staten leads the charge to resist outside forces threatening his way of life and the land that he loves.

Kelly’s Quinn has often found herself in the shadow of others, but after a stint in New York pursuing her career as a concert pianist, she has returned to Ransom Canyon to carve out a new path for herself.

Netflix has ordered 10 episodes for Ransom Canyon; the first two will be directed by Amanda Marsalis (Ozark, Umbrella Academy). Dan Angel also executive produces.

There are 10 books in the Ransom Canyon book series, with Season 1 of Netflix’s TV adaptation loosely based on the first one, the 2015 Ransom Canyon.

Virgin River just wrapped its Season 5 run on Netflix. For Deadline’s extensive S5 coverage and a preview of Season 6, click here.

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