Billy Bob Thornton to return for 'Landman' Season 3 despite fake reports ~ COSMO NEWS

Spoiler alert: The following contains details from the Season 2 finale of Paramount+'s "Landman." Beware if you haven't seen it and don't want to know.

It's clear whyBilly Bob Thornton isn't leaving "Landman,"despite Tommy Norris being fired as M-Tex president bycompany owner Cami Miller (Demi Moore).

The good times have just begun for Tommy in the Big Oil drama as theSeason 2 finale(now streaming on Paramount+) makes clear.

The finale episode shows Tommy furiously working a new business angle, hitching rides on private jets, pitching plans at power lunches, all while ensuring his son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) avoids murder charges for punching the man who sexually assaulted his fiancée, Ariana Medina (Paulina Chávez), 17 times.

The result is a wildly happy "Landman" season ender with a new family-led oil company, CTT Oil Exploration and Cattle. Tommy makes up the title on the fly, with CTT standing for the leadership of Cooper (as president), Tommy, and Tommy's father,T.L. (Sam Elliott), who oversees drilling.

Billy Bob Thornton on videosSaying he's leaving 'Landman,' are 'AI-generated crap.'

Sam Elliott as T.L. and Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy in the

It's a big world away from the Season 1 finale, which featured Tommy getting tortured, barely escaping a gas-soaked cartel death, and expressing deep concerns about M-Tex following the death offounder Monty Miller (Jon Hamm).

The meaning behind the coyote in the Season 2 finale of 'Landman'

At the time, Tommy was also contemplating his mortality while watching a coyote from afar. Season 2 ends with Tommy speaking to the coyote under very different circumstances. "You can't have today, bud," Tommy says. "Today is mine."

"The coyote is like a ghost haunting me," Thornton tells USA TODAY. In Season 1, Tommy was "filled with fear and dread," the actor says, and "this season it was like, 'Listen, if we're going to be pals, you have to give me the day off every now and then.'"

Western acting legend Sam Elliott joins Billy Bob Thornton in "Landman" Season 2 (Paramount+, Nov. 16). See the first-look photos from the new chapter of executive producer Taylor Sheridan's Big Oil drama. (James Jordan, far left, plays engineer Dale Bradley.)

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris in

Cami (Demi Moore) and Tommy (Billy Bob Thornton) work together on the business side of M-Tex Oil in Season 2 (pictured with Guy Burnet, left, as Charlie and Kayla Wallace as Rebecca).

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Tommy's son Cooper Norris (Jacob Lofland) works the oil fields in

Ali Larter as Angela Norris and Sam Elliott as T.L. in

James Jordan as petroleum engineer Dale, Tommy's roommate in their humble home.

Colm Feore as oil company attorney Nathan, another one of Tommy's roommates.

Cami (Demi Moore) mourns her husband Monty in

Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) and ex-wife Angela (Ali Larter) have a colorful and complicated relationship in

The love story of the West Texas oil fields: Jacob Lofland as Cooper Norris and Paulina Chavez as Ariana in

Michelle Randolph as Tommy's daughter Ainsley Norris in

'Landman' Season 2 photos: Billy Bob Thornton and the combustible Big Oil drama

Will Cami and Tommy face off as foes in Season 3 of 'Landman'?

Season 2 features a triumphant ending for Tommy, but viewers don't see a face-off with Cami (Moore), who fired her employee in Episode 9. Will the two leaders clash in Season 3 after the reshuffling?

"That makes sense," Thornton says. "I'm not being coy when I say that I don't know. But that would seem to be the natural progression of things."

The actor adds that Sheridan "keeps it close to his chest" when it comes to scripts and plot developments. Even if he wanted to speak on it, Thornton promises, "we don't know anything."

"I'm interested to see for myself what's going to happen," he says. "I don't know if there's anything I've ever done where I was as interested as an audience member in terms of finding out what goes on."

Cami Miller (Demi Moore) fired Tommy Norton (Billy Bob Thornton) in Episode 9. Will they face off again in Season 3?

Billy Bob Thornton will be back for Season 3 of 'Landman' despite viral AI-generated video

However, there is one thing Thornton does know. The Oscar-winning actor will be back for Season 3 of "Landman" despite reports questioning his return after aTikTok videowent viral purporting otherwise. "It's all just AI-generated crap," says Thornton, who calls the fake videos "goofy stuff."

In the seemingly AI-generated video, Thornton is seen saying he will not be returning over "the three foolish things director Taylor Sheridan does on set." Thornton calls it "some stupid AI thing that came out where it wasn't me at all."

Additionally, he says, "There's an AI report that Demi and I are a couple now … They have nothing to do with reality."

When Season 3 begins filming in May, Thornton vows, "I'll be there."

Billby Bob Thornton's 'Landman' Episode 7 full frontal scene was 'lopped off'

Thornton's brief nude reveal in Episode 7 drew gasps from around the internet.

In the bawdy comedic scene, Tommy wakes up au natural in his hotel bed after an amorous evening with his wife, Angela Norris (Ali Larter), to find a shocked housekeeper in the hotel room. The actor says there was some "trepidation" about the revealing scene.

"Landman" is back for its sophomore season and its cast showed up to celebrate the modern-day oil series return.

Among the talent at the Season 2 premiere in New York City were "1883" star Sam Elliott, who newly joined the cast, and "The Substance actress Demi Moore, who confirmed she has a larger presence on the show following her Oscar nomination last year.

Kayla Wallace, Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph, Andy Garcia and Paulina Chávez also attended the premiere at the Lincoln Center on Nov. 11, 2025, ahead of the show's return on Nov. 16.