Shubhabrata Dutta
Helmed by Richard Gray, ‘Murder at Yellowstone City,’ originally titled ‘Murder at Emigrant Gulch,’ is a 2022 Western thriller movie set in Yellowstone City, a Montana town once fueled by a gold rush, which is now on its decline. With the residents already in a state of despair, tragedy and fear strike after a prospector is found murdered. Sheriff Jim Ambrose suspects Cicero, a guy who has recently arrived in town and is a former slave, to be the killer. However, Minister Thaddeus Murphy knows better and must find the real culprit and bring him to justice before Ambrose does something regrettable. Keeping in mind how significant the visuals are in establishing a Western setting, the crew decided to opt for a real location carrying the Western Vibe.
Murder at Yellowstone City Filming Locations
‘Murder at Yellowstone City’ was filmed in Montana, specifically at the Yellowstone Film Ranch, a western backlot in Pray, Paradise Valley, in the state’s southwestern region. Filming reportedly began in May 2021 and took place over several weeks before wrapping up by June 3 of the same year. The ranch is owned by Gray, who also co-established it in 2020, and the movie itself is the first production to be shot there. “I’ve dreamed about the wild west since I was a kid, so to make this film with such a talented cast, at our own western backlot in Montana is beyond my wildest dreams,” Gray told Deadline. “It’s a really special story – a thrilling western. I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”
Yellowstone Film Ranch, Montana
Yellowstone Film Ranch became the base for the shoot of ‘Murder at Yellowstone City.’ Gray being the owner, the crew had complete creative freedom in utilizing the entire ranch, representing a 1800s town, with the magnificent Emigrant Peak in its backdrop. The backlot offers fully functional indoor and outdoor sets with 30 structures. While the structures provided the backdrop for scenes within Yellowstone City, the crew resorted to the rolling hills nearby to capture scenes involving cowboys on horses, as well as other wide shots and establishing shots. The 360-degree widespread terrain not only enabled the crew to carry out the entire filming in one location but also allowed them to highlight the aesthetic and establish the mood. The team also captured the area around the Chico Hot Springs, located near the ranch, to film several action scenes.
For the indoor scenes, the crew utilized the church, the town hall, and the jail with a sheriff’s office, all of which were already there, accurately customized to represent an old Western town. There is also a saloon, a brothel, a bathhouse, a general store, a bank with a 19th-century counter, a guest house, and a mine entrance. All these aided the production team in saving time planning where and how to shoot, as they could concentrate on showcasing the various aspects of the narrative instead.
During the shooting process, the cast and crew lived near the ranch itself, an experience that fueled their onscreen chemistry. “I think living here really helped with that, because that’s great to be able to tell people who ask, ‘Where are you shooting?’ ‘Oh, we’re building it! I live here!’ And so we’re able to sit with it every day, you see every shot in your head, and we had the luxury of being able to think about that in the setting for years instead of weeks. And so talking to those actors(…) it was just it was so much fun on set. For a director, it was awesome,” Gray told MovieWeb.
In addition to the ranch, there is also its production office in downtown Livingston, with cabin interiors and green screen that can be used as per requirement. There is also extra space to build custom sets, along with a costume and prop house. Montana’s 30% tax credit incentive, without the sales tax requirement, makes it a go-to destination for Western projects. The ranch has a deal with the Montana Movie Trans/Lodge to take care of the lodging and transportation of the cast and crew members. Also, it offers catering, equipment rentals, production trailer rentals, and portable restrooms.
Talking to Bleeding Cool, actor Nat Wolff stated how working on the set was a “blast.” “It had a saloon. You had the horses there. You would ride your horse up to the saloon just like you were in an old-timey movie. Everything was set up. So it wasn’t like doing something on a stage, or it wasn’t like they built it for the film. It was really it was like living through it. You kind of felt like you were in this little town every day, and the trailers were set up right nearby. At lunch, you get to go and walk down to the mountains, and it was kind of like living through a childhood dream of mine,” he added.
Emigrant Gulch, Montana
Several outdoor scenes of ‘Murder in Yellowstone City’ were shot in Emigrant Gulch, a few miles north of the now defunct Chico City (formerly Yellowstone City, which was established in the 1860s). The movie itself was initially titled ‘Murder at Emigrant Gulch,’ which may have led the crew to capture the location on camera in the first place. While the Yellowstone Film Ranch is a man-made marvel, the Emigrant Gulch is Nature’s portrait, offering stunning snowcapped mountains in the backdrop. At the same time, the foreground is purely Western, with dry soil and overgrown and dry foliage.
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