AMC Networks has given the green light to Dark Winds Season 3 and is targeting an early 2025 return for the series. The second season of the acclaimed drama recently concluded on AMC and AMC+.
Season one of Dark Winds is currently being featured on Max as part of a two-month programming pop-up of select AMC Networks’ shows on the Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service.
The series, which has received a perfect 100 Rotten Tomatoes rating for both its first and second seasons, stars Zahn McClarnon (The Son, Westworld, Fargo), Kiowa Gordon (The Red Road, Roswell, New Mexico) and Jessica Matten (Tribal, Burden of Truth).
Dark Winds season two was a hit on AMC and AMC+, a top 10 cable drama for the current broadcast season that averaged 1.7 million viewers each week on AMC in Nielsen live+3 ratings. Season two also saw significant viewership and acquisition gains from season one on AMC+.
“We started this journey with very high hopes for this series, given the remarkable source material and extraordinary creative team behind it, and it has delivered on every level,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks.
“From the beloved novels, to an incredibly collaborative producing team that includes Robert Redford, George R. R. Martin, showrunner John Wirth and star Zahn McClarnon, to the entire cast and crew, there is so much storytelling yet to come in this universe. Thanks to the fans for embracing this series and the critics for celebrating and shining a light on it.”
In the show’s second season, Lt. Joe Leaphorn (McClarnon), reunites with Jim Chee (Gordon), his former deputy turned private eye, when their separate cases bring them together in pursuit of the same suspect.
They find themselves in the high desert of Navajo Country chasing a killer who’s turned his sights on them to protect a secret that rips open old wounds and challenges Leaphorn’s moral and professional code.
With the help of Sgt. Manuelito (Matten) and Valencia County Sheriff Gordo Sena, Leaphorn and Chee must thwart their would-be assassin and restore balance not only to their own lives, but to the reservation that depends on them.
Season two also sees the return of series regulars Deanna Allison (Accused, Edge of America) as Emma Leaphorn and Elva Guerra (Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls) as Sally Growing Thunder.
They are joined by guest stars Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard, Bosch) as Rosemary Vines, Nicholas Logan (Dopesick, Creepshow) as Colton Wolf, A Martinez (Longmire, Days of Our Lives) as Valencia County Sheriff Gordo Sena, and Joseph Runningfox (The Politician, Valley of the Gods) who portrays Henry Leaphorn, Lt. Joe Leaphorn’s father.
Based on the iconic Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman, Dark Winds Season 3 is created by Graham Roland (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Returned, Almost Human, Fringe). John Wirth (Hell on Wheels, Hap and Leonard) serves as showrunner.
The series is executive produced by Roland, Wirth, McClarnon, Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin, Anne Hillerman, Chris Eyre, Vince Gerardis and Tina Elmo.
More than 90 percent of the production team on both sides of the camera for season two were Indigenous.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.