- During the course of the shoot, writer-director Taylor Sheridan was visited on set by some Shoshone tribal leaders who astonished him with the revelation that, at that very time, there were 12 unsolved murders of young women on a reservation of about 6,000 people. Due to a 1978 landmark government ruling (Oliphant v. Suquamish), the Supreme Court stripped tribes of the right to arrest and prosecute non-natives who commit crimes on native land. If neither victim nor perpetrator are native, a county or state officer must make the arrest. If the perpetrator is non-native and the victim an enrolled member, only a federally-certified agent has that right. If the opposite is true, a tribal officer can make the arrest, but the case must still go to federal court. This quagmire creates a jurisdictional nightmare by choking up the legal process on reservations to such a degree, many criminals go unpunished indefinitely for serious crimes.
- The film received a lengthy 8 minutes standing ovation at the end of its premiere in the Un Certain Regard competition of the Cannes film festival.
- Wind River Indian Reservation is the seventh-largest Indian reservation in the U.S.
- Jeremy Renner was the director's first choice for the lead role but as he was busy shooting Arrival (2016) at that time, Taylor Sheridan approached Chris Pine who later had to drop out because of his role in Wonder Woman (2017). Coincidentally, Renner's schedule opened up and was roped in for the role.
- The final installment in Taylor Sheridan's thematic American Frontier trilogy (the other films being Sicario (2015) and Hell or High Water (2016)).
- Elizabeth Olsen experienced snow blindness while shooting the film.
- It took 40 days for the shoot to complete.
- The film is based on actual events.
- In order to get attention for the movie so that Taylor Sheridan could get enough money to finish it in post production the way he wanted, he entered it into Sundance without telling his producers, who he says were not happy because they were trying to close a deal with TWC for the film. Nevertheless, that deal was eventually made.
- The grueling location shoot was filmed in real blizzardy conditions with crew and equipment being primarily ferried to locations on snowmobiles and snowcats, since regular vehicles were totally unsuitable for the hazardous terrain. Cleaning up unsightly vehicular tracks left in the snowy landscape had to be done with some compositing in post to keep the vista in 'virginal' condition.
- Filmed near Park City, Utah. The film would go on to have its world premiere in Park City at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
- The 45-70 is an older cartridge developed in 1873 for the US Army. It is still in use, often in antique rifles and replicas. For this reason, commercial ammunition manufacturers keep the pressures low for safety. Cory carries a modern version of the 45-70, a Marlin Model 1895SBL fitted with a telescopic sight, while hunting the mountain lion. That explains the scene showing Cory hand-loading his 45-70 ammunition. He is making a cartridge with significantly higher pressure than he can get in a commercially manufactured round. His loads have more velocity and greatly improve ballistic performance.
- Taylor Sheridan's first screenplay which he didn't write on spec. Sicario (2015) and Hell or High Water (2016) were written on spec.
- Jon Bernthal lost four toenails filming the trailer scene.
- The Wind River reservation is a real Indian reservation, and was also featured in the CW television show Ringer (2011) starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.
- Jeremy Renner's character uses a pair of Swarovski EL binoculars (an accurate representation of a predator hunter's quality optic, costing approximately $3,000) in a Badlands case with a quick-release magnetic closure. The binoculars appear to be the general purpose EL 42 model. Although similar to range finding models, from the lack of the range finding prism/laser (normally located on the bottom of each barrel), it appears they are the non-range finding type. This is best seen when Renner's character is showing the FBI agent where to look for snowmobile tracks on the mountain at 44:38. The small half-inch white marks on the front of the barrels are for optional protective flaps.
- This is Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner's third time working together on a movie, after Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and Captain America: Civil War (2016).
- Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones and Graham Greene have all had a role in the Twilight (2008) series playing characters from the Quileute tribe.
- Julia Jones, Graham Greene and Tantoo Cardinal all appear in Longmire (2012).
- Ian Bohen, Matthew Del Negro and Kelsey Asbille have all appeared in the hit MTV show Teen Wolf (2011) but they share no scenes together in the show.
- Gil Birmingham, Julia Jones, & Graham Greene all had roles in the "Twilight" series: Gil Birmingham played Billy Black, Jacob Black's father. Graham Greene played Harry Clearwater, while Julia Jones played his daughter, Leah Clearwater.
- Kelsey Asbille, Ian Bohen and Matthew Del Negro all starred in MTV's Teen Wolf as Teresa Stewart, Peter Hale and Rafael McCall respectfully.
- The film concludes with the quote: "While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women." In an NPR interview, Taylor Sheridan shared how this quote came about: "I had two researchers spend three months trying to find a statistic... They came back and said, 'Taylor, we cannot find a statistic.' No one's keeping it. And I said, 'well, that's our statistic.'"
- In an August 2017 interview with NPR, Taylor Sheridan is quoted as saying the movie isn't based on a single, real case, but based on the thousands of cases like it that exist. He goes on to say, "Well, I hope that they recognize that there's an epidemic of violence on the reservation that needs attention and needs addressing. And I hope, likewise, they recognize that there are people living on the reservation who are no different than people living in a city. And there's such a misunderstanding of the Native American culture in people and such a stereotype. And I hope I shatter that. And I hope that they can recognize that a good kid with hopes and dreams is a good kid with hopes and dreams, no matter where they live and that a caring father is a caring father and that a, you know, grieving mother is a grieving mother, whether she's grieving in St. Louis or on the Wind River Res - and look at addressing the issues that are facing them."
- Body count: 15.
- Jane Banner: Shouldn't we wait for back up?
Ben: This isn't the land of waiting for back up. This is the land of you're on your own. - Jane Banner: How far do you think someone can run barefoot out here?
Cory Lambert: Oh, I don't know. How to gauge someone's will to live? Especially in these conditions. But I knew that girl. She was a fighter. So no matter how far you think she ran... I can guarantee you she ran farther. - Jane Banner: She ran six miles in the snow.
Cory Lambert: Yes, she did. - Jane Banner: Give me your radio, My best chance out of here is helicopter. You don't have one of those, do you?
Cory Lambert: Nope.
Jane Banner: Give me your radio. Go get them.
Cory Lambert: I won't bring 'em back. You have to know that.
Jane Banner: I do. - Cory Lambert: You could have called for that information, you know.
Jane Banner: I wanted to know why you were helping me. Now I do. - Ben: I appreciate your passion, it's not the Feds usual response. But Randy is on our side.
Jane Banner: When my supervisor sees his report, he's gonna want me back in Vegas. Not that I'm much help or anything, but I'm all you've got. - Jane Banner: What do you think?
Cory Lambert: I only know what the tracks say. - Cory Lambert: The storm will be back.
Jane Banner: That's something to look forward to.
The film is the third installment of Taylor Sheridan’s trilogy of “the modern-day American frontier”. Principal photography on the film began on March 12, 2016 in Utah and lasted until April 25, 2016
Wind River premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the United States on August 4, 2017. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $45 million against an $11 million budget. The Weinstein Company acquired the distribution rights on May 13, 2016, during the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. In January 2017, it was announced that the company would no longer distribute the film, but the distribution deal was later finalized. It had a limited release on August 4, 2017, before going wide on August 18. In October 2017, it was announced the film would be distributed on home media and streaming services through Lionsgate with the Weinstein Company name and logo omitted from the credits, trailer and packaging, because of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal. As a result, The Weinstein Company finally stopped distributing the film. All money Weinstein would have made was donated to charity.
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2018
Nominee – Saturn Award Best Thriller Film
American Indian Film Festival 2017
Winner – American Indian Movie Award Best Actor: Graham Greene (actor)
Winner – American Indian Movie Award Best Film: Taylor Sheridan
Camerimage 2017
Nominee – Best Directorial Debut: Taylor Sheridan
Cannes Film Festival 2017
Winner – Un Certain Regard – Best Director Taylor Sheridan
Nominee – Golden Camera Taylor Sheridan
Nominee – Un Certain Regard Award Taylor Sheridan
Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2018
Nominee – COFCA Award Best Overlooked Film
Detroit Film Critics Society, US 2017
Nominee – DFCS Award Best Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan
Directors Guild of America, USA 2018
Nominee – DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Taylor Sheridan
Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards 2017
Nominee – DFCC Best Film(6th place)
Golden Schmoes Awards 2017
Nominee – Golden Schmoes Most Underrated Movie of the Year
Hawaii Film Critics Society 2018
Winner – HFCS Award Best Overlooked Film (Tied with T2 Trainspotting (2017).
Nominee – HFCS Award Best Director: Taylor Sheridan
Nominee – HFCS Award Best New Filmmaker: Taylor Sheridan
Nominee – HFCS Award Best First Film
Hollywood Film Awards 2017
Winner – Hollywood Breakthrough Award Breakthrough Directing: Taylor Sheridan
Image Awards 2018
Nominee – Image Award Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
Indiewire Critics’ Poll 2017
Nominee – ICP Award Best First Feature (5th place. Tied with Raw (2016).
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2017
Winner – Audience Award: Taylor Sheridan
Winner – President’s Award: Jeremy Renner
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2017
Nominee – Sierra Award Best Picture (9th place)
Nantucket Film Festival 2017
Winner – Best of Fest Award: Taylor Sheridan
Nominee – Audience Award Best Narrative Feature: Taylor Sheridan
National Board of Review, USA 2017
Winner – NBR Award Top Ten Independent Films
North Texas Film Critics Association, US 2018
Nominee – NTFCA Award Best Actor: Jeremy Renner
Phoenix Critics Circle 2017
Nominee – PCC Award Best Mystery or Thriller Film
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2017
Nominee – PFCS Award Best Picture
Nominee – PFCS Award Overlooked Film of the Year
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2017
Nominee – SDFCS Award Best Cinematography: Ben Richardson
Satellite Awards 2017
Nominee – Satellite Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture: Jeremy Renner
Women Film Critics Circle Awards 2017
Nominee – Adrienne Shelly Award
