Kurt Sutter no longer attached to Netflix series The Abandons

Here's a shocker - Kurt Sutter has quit the Netflix series The Abandons. Sutter's departure comes just three weeks before the sprawling western starring Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson goes into production in Calgary. Sutter (pictured) was the executive producer/showrunner of the series, which he also created.



Executive producer/director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins of The Abandons will oversee the remainder of filming – including reshoots, which will proceed as planned without a new showrunner named.

The Abandons is about six episodes into shooting seven episodes, sources say. Representatives for Netflix and Sutter declined comment.

The departure is believed to be due to creative differences over the direction of the full-scale production now that filming has wrapped and production is wrapping up. Sources say that alarm bells went off at Netflix when the first cut of the completed first episode, which lays out the story and introduces the main group of main characters, lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. Reducing that to an hour proved impossible, so it was decided to split the episode, written by Sutter and directed by Bathurst, in two. That required creating a cliffhanger in the middle of the episode with additional scenes at either end to wrap up the premiere and kick off episode two.

According to sources, those additional scenes have been written but not yet shot, so Netflix's decision to change course on The Abandons comes after seeing the unfinished, newly-split first two episodes and part of episode three. Sources also whisper that Netflix executives felt the episodes looked a bit disjointed and not propulsive enough, but there was no meeting between the network's top brass and Sutter to address the concerns.

This wouldn't be the first time Sutter has disagreed with executives on creativity. And it's not the first time he's left a series during production.

In 2019, Sutter was fired from his previous series, FX's Mayans MC (2018), following an investigation into complaints from writers, producers, cast and crew about a hostile work environment at the series. Sutter disputed the allegations at the time — he has since admitted to his past behavior — and instead put the spotlight on Disney's "creative control," which he claimed had created a conflict when he "pushed back. Hard."

There have been no reports of any major disagreements on set. However, there have been some tensions between Sutter and the top talent of The Abandons. Sources say that the large-scale production has exceeded its budget, and there are plans to address this by reducing the shooting schedule for the finale. The script for the finale, which was written by Sutter, was approved by Netflix five weeks ago.

Due to budget cuts across the board at Netflix (and other networks and streamers), The Abandons order, originally announced as ten episodes, was shortened to eight and then seven episodes. With the split of the first episode, it now goes back to eight episodes.

The Abandons follows a group of diverse, deviant families pursuing their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon, while a corrupt force and wealth that covets their land tries to drive them out. These abandoned souls, the kind of lost souls that live on the fringes of society, unite their tribes to form a family and fight back.

In this bloody process, 'justice' is stretched beyond the limits of the law. The Abandons explores the thin line between survival and the law, the consequences of violence and the corrosive power of secrets, as this family fights to keep their land.

Sutter, who said he had always wanted to make a Western, was inspired to make The Abandons after watching Bonanza reruns during the pandemic. He placed the project with Netflix - which had been looking for a western series for some time - in 2021.

In addition to Headey and Anderson, the ensemble cast 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.