Taylor Sheridan is about to hang up his spurs at Paramount, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed.
The prolific Yellow stone And King of Tulsa the writer and director is expected to join NBCUniversal, starting with a film deal that takes effect next year. Sheridan’s TV deal with Paramount isn’t up until the end of 2028, but he’s expected to pass it on to NBCUniversal when it ends.
Puck was the first to report Sheridan’s movement. An NBCU spokesperson declined to comment.
Sheridan is one of the biggest talents in the industry, creating the Yellow stone franchise (with its multitude of spinoffs like 1923 And 1883), the franchise led by Sylvester Stallone King of Tulsa and other programs for Paramount, such as Special Ops: Lioness And Mayor of Kingstown. And his work has proven to have star appeal, with Kevin Costner, the original star of Yellow stone (a falling out in the final season may have put a damper on that show), and Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Sam Elliott and Jeremy Renner among the stars to sign on for some of its other shows.
Sheridan’s next film, however, an action thriller called FASTis created at Warner Bros.
His deal with NBCUniversal should be rich (no surprise), although he’ll have to create a whole new intellectual property when he makes that jump in a few years. As is typical in these transactions, Paramount owns Yellow stone and the other franchises he created for this company. Still, his programming has become a dramatic backbone of the Paramount+ streaming platform, and likely will for years to come given the number of active projects he has and the long lead time before he joins NBCU for television projects.
“I spent the first 37 years of my life compromising,” Sheridan said. The Hollywood Reporter in a 2023 profile. “When I stopped acting, I decided I was going to tell my stories my way, period. If you don’t want me to tell them, fine. Give them back and I’ll find someone who will – or I won’t, and then I’ll read them in a goddamn dinner theater. But I won’t compromise. There is no compromise.”
Paramount, now led by CEO David Ellison, has made bringing in top talent a priority, signing long-term deals with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, signing a new film and television deal with the Duffer brothers and securing other key talent and intellectual property. Daily show Host Jon Stewart said Sunday that he is talking with Paramount about extending his tenure as host of the Comedy Central late-night show.
But NBCU, whose entertainment efforts are led by Donna Langley, has also built a reputation for being talent-friendly, poaching talent like Christopher Nolan and Seth Rogen, and signing deals with multi-billers like Snoop Dogg.
Sheridan and his 101 Studios film in Texas and Montana, and his company actually partnered with Paramount to expand their presence in Texas earlier this year in an effort to boost production in the state.
