Sylvester Stallone and Taylor Sheridan look to be expanding their gangster series Tulsa King in a format similar to Yellowstone. After all of the speculation about the future of Yellowstone after Costner’s abrupt 2023 exit from the franchise, it was finally confirmed that Costner will not be returning to wrap up the series as protagonist John Dutton. While Costner still looks to get his Horizon movie series into theaters after Chapter 2’s underwhelming world premiere at the 81st Venice Film Festival, Sheridan is moving forward with other projects.
With Tulsa King, Stallone made his first return to television since his guest appearance on This is Us back in 2017. Tulsa King has become one of Sheridan’s several franchise series that stream exclusively on Paramount+, joining the ranks of Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, and Special Ops: Lioness (renamed Lioness). Tulsa King season 1 received strong reviews, resulting in a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 79% and an audience score of 91%, indicating that it’s already a fan-favorite with viewers at home.
Tulsa King Getting Spinoffs Would Repeat Yellowstone’s Franchise Expansion
Yellowstone is just one of Sheridan’s several franchise series at Paramount
With the announcement of the new Tulsa King spinoff series set in New Orleans, it appears that Tulsa King is the latest Sheridan-created series that could be getting the same franchise expansion treatment given to Yellowstone. As it currently stands, Yellowstone already has two successful prequel series, 1883 and 1923, and has a slate of future sequel series and spinoffs currently in the works. Yellowstone started with one show, then went to two, then three, and there may even be more as one of television’s most popular franchises.
With more Tulsa King spinoffs already being talked about, Tulsa King could ultimately go a similar route and end up with multiple prequels, sequels, and spinoffs. If Tulsa King season 2 is able to capture more of an audience and eventually gain a level of popularity similar to Yellowstone, Tulsa King could work out very nicely as an expanded television franchise. Sheridan is expected to stay on the project at least as a creator and executive producer, even if he’s not super involved at this point, which is a great sign that Tulsa King could follow a similar rollout blueprint to Yellowstone.
Are Tulsa King Spinoffs A Good Idea?
Tulsa King season 2 needs to deliver in Fall 2024
Talk of Tulsa King expanding into a franchise on the level of Yellowstone is certainly premature at this point, but there’s no reason to doubt the promise of another budding Sheridan project. Tulsa King hasn’t even released season 2 yet, so while it is still early, there are several new directions the series could go even without Stallone’s direct involvement. Stallone could effectively be the baton carrier of Tulsa King for at least three seasons before one or more supporting characters develop enough of a following to carry their own series. First and foremost, Tulsa King season 2 needs to deliver.