“Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan wades into mob drama territory with his newest show “The Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone.
Sheridan announced all the new shows he has in the works over at Paramount. “The Tulsa King,” in addition to others, will be a Paramount Plus exclusive show. The network hopes to piggyback off of “Yellowstone’s” success by bringing fans of Sheridan and the Western into the streaming service.
So, what do we know about “The Tulsa King” so far? When Sheridan announced the show in a recent Instagram video, he brought up why he picked Stallone especially.
“I want to go get movie stars,” Sheridan said. “And an opportunity to work with someone like Stallone, it just follows this model.”
Stallone himself also discussed the “interesting” story behind the show.
“‘The Tulsa King’ is a very interesting story. He’s a lifetime gangster, he took the fall for his bosses and went to prison for 25 years. Kept his mouth shut and now he comes out,” Stallone explained. “Next thing you know, he’s in Tulsa. So he has to now start a new life. Create a gang, because they want him to be an earner. And that’s when the fun begins.”
It certainly should be a fun ride, with Stallone and Sheridan at the wheel.
More Details About Taylor Sheridan and Sylvester Stallone in ‘The Tulsa King’
AV Club provided a little more background about “The Tulsa King.” Per the outlet, the main character’s name is Dwight Manfredi. He’s a New York mafia guy who was “unceremoniously exiled by his boss” when he took the fall and went to prison. Interestingly, the AV Club puts it as Manfredi’s mafia family “doesn’t have his best interests at heart.” And this is what partially leads him to create his own “criminal empire” in Tulsa.
We’ll likely see the Sylvester Stallone-led drama sometime this year. AV Club estimates a release date in the fall, but the Wall Street Journal says we could see “The Tulsa King” as early as this summer. The outlet talked with the chief executive of ViacomCBS Media Networks and MTV Entertainment studios Chris McCarthy about Sheridan’s slate of new projects.
And per McCarthy, “The Tulsa King” is next on the list to be developed. The plan is to use the two-part “Yellowstone” Season 5 to promote “The Tulsa King” this summer and another show (likely “1883” or “1932”) this fall. When “Yellowstone” airs on the Paramount Network, the first few episodes of another spin-off show will air as well right afterward. Then, after getting viewers hooked for a few weeks, it’ll air exclusively on Paramount Plus.
Stallone also spoke to the WSJ about joining Sheridan’s project.
“He’s bringing back a kind of rugged individualism that has been sorely lacking,” Stallone said. At 75, he’s excited to tackle this genre. “Every time I see a gangster-type film, I think, ‘I can do that.’”
