‘Wind River’ Sequel ‘The Next Chapter’ With Martin Sensmeier In Works At Castle Rock; Kari Skogland To Direct

Castle Rock Entertainment has announced that it will produce a sequel to the award-winning crime drama Wind River, titled Wind River: The Next Chapter, with production to kick off in January. Martin Sensmeier (1883) will star, reprising his role as Wind River local Chip Hanson, with Kari Skogland (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) set as director.

The original 2017 film written and directed by Oscar nominee Taylor Sheridan watched as the veteran hunter Corey Lambert (Jeremy Renner) helped rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) to investigate the murder of a young woman on the Wyoming Native American reservation known as Wind River. It world premiered at Sundance before moving on to Cannes, where Sheridan picked up the prize for Best Director. Pic came in a critically acclaimed box office success, grossing over $44M upon its August release, in spite of the producers’ need to wrestle their project out of the hands of The Weinstein Company, following the emergence of sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

In Wind River: The Next Chapter, terror has escalated on the Wind River reservation as a series of ritualistic murders remain unsolved. The FBI therefore enlists the aid of Hanson, a newly minted tracker for the U.S. Fish & Game, who becomes embroiled in a desperate and dangerous fight between the authorities, a vigilante and the Reservation he calls home.

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Patrick Massett & John Zinman (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Gold) wrote the script for the sequel, which Matthew George will produce for Castle Rock Entertainment and Acacia Filmed Entertainment, alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road Pictures. Executive producers include Castle Rock’s Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi, Jonathan Fuhrman, Courtney Shepard and Hernan Narea.

Skogland is an Emmy-nominated and BAFTA Award-winning director whose credits include directing and executive producing Marvel’s Emmy-nominated series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Disney+ and Showtime’s The Loudest Voice, starring Russell Crowe and Sienna Miller. She’s also directed on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and wrote, directed and produced the thriller Fifty Dead Men Walking, starring Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess. Skogland is also currently attached to direct the epic Cleopatra, starring Gal Gadot, for Universal and Atlas Entertainment.

Sensmeier is known on the TV side for roles on Sheridan’s 1883 and Yellowstone, Peacock’s Rutherford Falls and HBO’s Westworld. Notable film credits in addition to Wind River include 9 Bullets, The Magnificent Seven and The Ice Road. The actor most recently boarded the Quavo-led action thriller Takeover and joined the Season 2 cast of NBC’s La Brea.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rob Reiner co-founded Castle Rock in 1987 and serves as its CEO, with Michele Reiner and Matthew George as its Co-Presidents. The storied production company has produced more than 125 films including When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, In the Line of Fire, City Slickers, Miss Congeniality, The American President and The Shawshank Redemption, also notably producing NBC’s iconic sitcom, Seinfeld.

Castle Rock relaunched its film division in October 2021 with a $175MM film fund which will allow it to develop, produce and finance quality films for global audiences. The banner has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. on theatrical content, in addition to its existing deal with Castle Rock television productions, and recently announced its plans for a This Is Spinal Tap sequel, set for release in early 2024.

Skogland is represented by WME and Anonymous Content; Sensmeier by Buchwald and manager Justine Hunt; and Massett and Zinman by CAA, Industry Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

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