Paramount debuts first trailer for 1883 starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

Paramount Television on Sunday unveiled the first trailer for 1883, its Yellowstone prequel that stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as the original patriarch and matriarch of the powerful Dutton family.

The real-life married couple plays Margaret and James Dutton, pioneers who wrangle their young son (Audie Rick), teenage daughter (Isabel May, the series' narrator), and a sizable herd of longhorn cattle to make the arduous trek from Texas to Montana. They are guided by Shea Brennan (Tombstone alum Sam Elliott), a wagon master and Civil War veteran who suffers a great loss at the start of the series.

The teaser, which also includes a first look of Billy Bob Thornton as U.S. Marshal Jim Courtright, debuted during the fourth season premiere of Yellowstone. There was also a quick flashback to the 1800s in Sunday's Yellowstone premiere on Paramount TV, which featured McGraw and his son talking with a group of Native Americans about burying a tribal member on Dutton land.

Filming for 1883 began this summer in Texas. Fort Worth was chosen, in particular, for its realistic locales: the city once served as the epicenter for the cattle business and still has many of the old stockyards.

"I don't build a world with visual effects," 1883 creator/executive producer Taylor Sheridan tells EW. "I go shoot these corners of the world that people haven't seen," he says. "The audience today is so experienced. They've seen so much, so to move the audience becomes more and more difficult. It's incredibly expensive and very difficult. But we can do it as John Ford did it. When you need 50 wagons, you're going to see 50 [real] wagons."

1883 will begin streaming December 19 on Paramount+.

Related content:

• Welcome to the Yellowstone age: a behind-the-scenes look at 1883
• Yellowstone prequel in the works at Paramount+
• Let it rip: Why Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler is the best character on Yellowstone