Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is one busy guy. He has a slew of new shows in the works, including multiple Yellowstone spinoffs and the second season of his Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown. Though there's a lot of good TV on the way, we're really excited about his upcoming series Tulsa King, which stars none other than Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone, in his first leading role on television.
In an interview with Variety, Sheridan explained that he thought of the concept of the series and its main character in the early days of the COVID pandemic.
"I was talking with a producer, and it's COVID," Sheridan said. "Everyone's kind of going stir-crazy. He was asking me about ideas. I said, 'Look, all you need, in my opinion, to have an interesting TV show is take a really fascinating character and drop them in a world that we don't know anything about.'"
Two days later, he had written the pilot episode and knew the perfect actor to call to play Dwight "The General" Manfredi — Stallone. He called the beloved actor up at his house in Florida and give him his pitch, and sent him the script. The next day, Stallone called him back and said, 'When do we shoot?'
Here's everything we know about Tulsa King.
Who is behind the series?
Taylor Sheridan, of course, is the creator and executive producer of the upcoming Paramount+ series. Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Terence Winter, known for The Sopranos and The Wolf of Wall Street, will be the showrunner and writer. This will be one of two new series where Sheridan does something he's never done before — hires a writing staff. He's juggling a lot of shows right now, and though he typically writes every episode himself, that amount of work just isn't sustainable. But this sounds like a talented group of people who are well equipped to bring this unique story to the screen.
Winter, series star Sylvester Stallone, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Allen Coulter, and Braden Aftergood will also be executive producers.
When will it air?
Tulsa King is set to air on Nov. 13 on the Paramount Network following the first episode of Yellowstone season 5. While the second episode will air on Nov. 20, all additional episodes will be available weekly on Paramount+.
What's it about?
According to a press release, the new series follows New York mafia capo Dwight "The General" Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a "crew" from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Initially, the working title was "Kansas City," but it seems that behind the scenes, Sheridan and his fellow producers have shifted gears to move from the Midwest down South.
Where is the series filmed?
The new show is currently in production in Oklahoma City, just an hour and a half from its setting in Tulsa. The casting department has even issued a few local casting calls, so OKC locals have the chance to potentially make it on set for a few scenes.
Who's in the cast?
Sylvester Stallone - Dwight Manfredi
Andrea Savage - Stacy Beale
Annabella Sciorra - Joanne
Martin Starr - Bodhi
Max Casella - Armand Truisi
Domenick Lombardozzi - Charles 'Chickie' Invernizzi
Vincent Piazza - Vince Antonacci
Jay Will - Tyson
A.C. Peterson - Pete 'The Rock' Invernizzi
Garrett Hedlund - Mitch Keller
