A sequel to the 2017 neo-Western crime movie, Wind River, has now been announced with The Punisher and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier director Kari Skogland at the helm. Titled Wind River: The Next Chapter, the follow-up to the award-winning outing will find Wind River star Martin Sensmeier reprising his role as Chip Hanson and taking the lead.
Courtesy of a report by Deadline, we now know that Wind River: The Next Chapter has been written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman (The Blacklist, Friday Night Lights, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and will find Sensmeier’s character now reformed and tasked with assisting the FBI in a murder case.
The first Wind River was released back in 2017. Directed and written by Taylor Sheridan, Wind River stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent, respectively. Renner plays Cory Lambert, a wildlife officer who finds the body of an 18-year-old woman on an American Indian reservation in snowy Wyoming. When the autopsy reveals that she was raped, FBI agent Jane Banner arrives to investigate. Teaming up with Lambert as a guide, the duo soon find that their lives are in danger while trying to solve the mystery of the teen’s death.
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Wind River was met with critical acclaim upon release and currently holds an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was met with several award nominations, winning Taylor Sheridan the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival.
Martin Sensmeier Will Take the Lead in Wind River: The Next Chapter
Paramount+
There is currently no word on whether original stars Jeremy Renner or Elizabeth Olsen will feature, but it sounds like an appearance from either of them would be little more than a cameo as Wind River: The Next Chapter puts Martin Sensmeier front and center.
Aside from his role in the original Wind River, Martin Sensmeier is best recognized for his work in the likes of the reboot of The Magnificent Seven, The Ice Road with Liam Neeson, and the television series Westworld. The actor has also starred in the series 1883 by Wind River writer and director Taylor Sheridan, which acts as a prequel to Sheridan’s critically acclaimed series, Yellowstone.
Director Kari Skogland, meanwhile, is best known for helming several episodes of projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As well as helming episodes of The Punisher and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Skogland’s credits include Boardwalk Empire, House of Cards, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Principal photography for Wind River: The Next Chapter is expected to begin in January 2023.
