'Marshals' Takes Place in Montana, but Is That Where the Show Is Filmed?

Sometimes, a major character in a TV show isn't a person at all. Rather, it's an object, idea, or location that serves as a major part of the story despite not being sentient. That's the case with the show Marshals and its location — Montana.

The Yellowstone spin-off series follows Kayce Dutton and his transition from rancher to U.S. Marshal, as he protects Montana. Naturally, with the location being such a strong element of the story, along with the beautiful landscape cinematography the show provides, fans are now wondering where Marshals is actually filmed.

Despite the show's setting, Marshals is not actually filmed in Montana. Instead, production takes place almost entirely in Utah, namely within Summit, Morgan, and Wasatch Counties. Similarly, Yellowstone's earlier seasons were also shot in Utah before production moved to Montana.

It's certainly not uncommon for filming to take place far from where a series is set. Production costs, cast and crew mobility, and local laws can all factor into where a production will set up shop. In Marshals's case, all the logistics pointed to Utah being the best choice, despite the state of Montana being such a major plot device.

A large part of the reason production chose the Beehive State is due to the Rural Utah Film Incentive program. This initiative provides significant tax breaks to any project that spends a minimum of 75 percent of its production days in rural Utah. The point is to draw more producers to the state in order to provide more jobs. It's clearly working, as Marshals, along with three other productions taking advantage of the program, are set to bring the state roughly $57.4 million and over 380 jobs.

Another reason for the filming location is that, as mentioned, the first few seasons of Yellowstone were made in Utah. That meant that producers already had a crew there whom they'd worked with before and understood the type of atmosphere they wanted to create for the spin-off show. It also ensured that Marshals would be visually similar to Yellowstone, with the same background scenery and landscapes.

Despite the beautiful scenery in Marshals and Yellowstone not actually being Montana, the show has inspired people to move to the Big Sky Country anyway. In fact, it's become such a common occurrence that the phenomenon is being called the "Yellowstone Effect." Lead actor Luke Grimes hopped on that bandwagon and relocated to Montana as well. However, the locals aren't particularly happy about it, as the increase in people is causing housing prices in rural Montana to rise.

Per WhiskeyRiff, Luke admitted, "Our friends from California drove out, and we went on a hike, and we were in their car. And they had, you know, Cali plates. We got off the hike, and someone had written ‘go back’ in the dust on their car. Like, people are super weird about it." Maybe it's good that Marshals is sticking to Utah and choosing to leave Montana be.