The Abandons Showrunner Kurt Sutter Exits Netflix Series Before Production Ends

Series creator, executive producer, and showrunner Kurt Sutter has left Netflix’s epic Western show The Abandons weeks before the production concludes. This is the second series Sutter has exited after he was reportedly fired from the Sons of Anarchy spin-off, Mayans M.C., in 2019.

Kurt Sutter reportedly departs Netflix’s The Abandons due to creative differences

Kurt Sutter has exited the upcoming series The Abandons reportedly due to creative differences.

The production is currently ongoing and set to wrap in Calgary, Alberta, in three weeks, per Deadline. In the absence of a showrunner, executive producer/director Otto Bathurst and co-executive producer Rob Askins will take charge of the production to ensure that everything, including reshooting, goes as planned.

The representatives for both Netflix and Sutter haven’t yet addressed the matter. According to Deadline, Sutter’s exit resulted from creative differences between the showrunner and streaming giant over the project’s direction. Netflix was reportedly concerned with the 1 hour and 40 minutes runtime of the series premiere. Editing the episode into a shorter version apparently proved impossible, leading to the decision to split it into two parts. This came with its own problems. It required a cliffhanger scene to end the first episode. That, in turn, required filming for additional scenes to round up the end of Episode 1 and the beginning of Episode 2.

Deadline reported, citing sources, that the scripts for these additional scenes are ready, though they have not yet been filmed.

At the time of his firing from Mayans M.C., there were reportedly allegations of a hostile work environment from writers, cast, crew, and producers. There is no such claim this time. But, Deadline mentions that the series went over budget during a period when Netflix, along with other networks, intends to tighten up the overall spending. The series was initially supposed to have 10 episodes but was shortened to eight and then seven episodes. With the split of the series premiere, it appears the episode count is once more eight.

The Abandons features Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, among others. The story follows families trying to pursue their Manifest Destiny in 1850s Oregon.