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The Abandons hit a rough patch in October 2024 when its creator, Kurt Sutter, walked away from the Netflix series. This occurred only three weeks before they were scheduled to complete filming. The crew had been working in Calgary since May 2024. Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson play the main characters in this Western drama. Kurt Sutter was running the show as both showrunner and executive producer.
People in the industry were taken aback by his sudden departure. It turned out that creative differences with Netflix were the cause of the split. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened in his career. Otto Bathurst and Rob Askins took over to finish the remaining work. The story follows different families in 1850s Oregon who band together against powerful enemies trying to steal their land.
The creative differences that led to the departure in The Abandons
Kurt Sutter walked away from The Abandons after Netflix watched the rough cuts of what they'd filmed. The first episode proved to be significantly too long, clocking in at one hour and forty minutes. Netflix made the call to break the premiere into two episodes instead. They needed to write some extra scenes to make it work as a cliffhanger between episodes. According to Deadline, Netflix decided to change leadership after watching these incomplete episodes.
Budget concerns and production challenges of The Abandons
The Abandons ended up costing more money than Netflix had planned for. The streaming service was cutting budgets everywhere at that time. They kept reducing the number of episodes before Kurt Sutter even left. What started as ten episodes got cut down to eight, then to seven episodes. When they split the premiere, it went back up to eight total. Variety backed up these details.
People who knew what was happening said there was friction between Kurt Sutter and the lead actors of The Abandons. They didn't always see eye to eye on where the story should go. Talking things through became difficult. Nobody reported any huge blowups during filming, though. The schedule was tight, which made everything stressful. Netflix wanted to launch the show in April. There was little room for compromise in resolving the differences.
Sutter's controversial past
The showrunner had run into trouble at work before this. Back in 2019, FX let him go from Mayans MC because people complained about his acting. Disney's HR department investigated the situation with that show. The Hollywood Reporter reported that the cast and crew filed complaints about the way he managed the production. He owned up to being an "abrasive dick" when he wrote to the staff. He discussed butting heads with Disney executives after they acquired FX. The showrunner even put jokes making fun of Disney into the Mayans MC scripts. That's part of why they ultimately fired him from that show.
Director Otto Bathurst stepped up as executive producer following the departure. Co-executive producer Rob Askins joined him to handle what was left. They completed the rest of the filming and reshoots just as they'd planned. Netflix didn't name anyone new as the showrunner for The Abandons. Gillian Anderson posted that filming wrapped up in late October 2024. The cast and crew finished everything without any public drama. Netflix and the creator both kept quiet about what happened.
The series finally premiered in December
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The Abandons came out on Netflix on December 4. Critics had mixed reactions to this Western drama when it was released. Rotten Tomatoes showed that only 30% of critics liked it based on forty reviews. Metacritic gave it a score of 43 out of 100. Critics said the characters felt weak, and nothing about it seemed fresh. Anderson and Headey got some praise for their acting, though. Most reviewers just didn't connect with what the show was trying to do. The messy production story became something people talked about alongside the show itself.
Kurt Sutter's departure from The Abandons showed that his career still faces creative and professional hurdles.
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