‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan Is Teaming Up With 1 of the Biggest Action Stars in History to Take on the Kansas City Mob
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Taylor Sheridan signed a $200 million deal to expand his Yellowstone universe.
- The Yellowstone prequel 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner are already streaming.
- Still to come are 6666, Landman, and Kansas City starring one of the biggest action stars in the world.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan just wrapped season 4 on the Paramount Network, which set up the upcoming spinoff 6666. He’s got the prequel 1883 playing on Paramount+, along with the Jeremy Renner prison drama The Mayor of Kingstown. And now the Oscar nominee is teaming up with one of the biggest action stars in history for the new mob drama, Kansas City.
‘Yellowstone’ creator Taylor Sheridan signed a $200 million deal with ViacomCBS
After the Yellowstone season 3 finale aired in August 2020 — and achieved one of the best ratings of the year for a cable TV drama — Sheridan signed a $200 million deal with ViacomCBS to expand his TV universe. The agreement was that Sheridan would deliver five new shows over three years. And, he didn’t waste any time.
Some call it the Yellowstone-verse, others call it the Taylor Sheridan-verse. But whatever the name, that universe is getting a lot larger and it’s happening fast. In addition to Yellowstone, 1883, Mayor of Kingstown, and 6666, Sheridan has the series Landman coming soon — a story about West Texas oil workers.
Taylor Sheridan is teaming up with a huge action star to take on the Kansas City mob
The other confirmed project that Sheridan has in the works is the new mob drama Kansas City. Like Yellowstone, the series will be led by an Oscar-nominated film star. Who also happens to be one of the biggest action stars in movie history — Sylvester Stallone.
According to Deadline, Stallone will be the star and executive producer of Kansas City. Which will mark the first time in the actor’s career that he will lead a television series. The show will see Stallone playing a legendary New York City Italian mobster named Sal who’s forced to relocate to an unlikely place — Kansas City, Missouri.
Having Sylvester Stallone sign on as the star of ‘Kansas City’ is a ‘privilege’
Kansas City is set in the present day, and it will follow Sal as he faces the task of reestablishing his Italian mafia family in the straight-shooting town. Stallone’s character has trouble adjusting to life in the midwest, but he makes some unlikely friends who join him on his path to power.
Kansas City comes from both Sheridan and Boardwalk Empire creator Terrence Winter. It will be produced by 101 studios — which is the company behind the Yellowstone-verse — and MTV Entertainment Studios, and Winter will serve as the showrunner.
“Taylor is a prolific creator because of the multi-dimensional characters he creates and the complex worlds he builds,” 101 Studios CEO David C. Glasser said. “To be able to have the legendary, transcendent Sylvester playing one of these characters is truly a privilege.”
Taylor Sheridan created ‘Kansas City’ in just one weekend
Kansas City began as a simple idea, when Glasser told Sheridan, “what if you came up with the cool wildness of Goodfellas with Stallone?”
“He [Sheridan] takes a breath, I’m not even joking, and he goes, ‘Hmm, that’s a good idea, Glasser.’ Then, on the spot, he proceeds to spend 45 minutes pitching me a story that he just created in his head. This is Friday at 3 p.m. It is a great story, and nothing is written down,” Glasser recalled.
Within 48 hours, Glasser says that Sheridan had already hashed out a pilot script and pitched the Kansas City idea to Stallone. After hearing about Sal, the Rocky star reportedly signed on immediately.
For the ‘Yellowstone’ creator, this is ‘how it happens’
The following Monday, Sheridan and Glasser pitched the idea and script to Paramount and the network greenlit the series.
“This is how it happens with him,” Glasser said of Sheridan, per Outsider. “He just picks up the phone and calls people like Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Hanks, Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and says, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea.’ I call to do the deal with the agent afterwards.”
Yellowstone seasons 1 through 3 are available on Peacock. Season 4 is expected to be added to the platform in March 2022. New episodes of Mayor of Kingstown and 1883 drop weekly on Paramount+. Landman, 6666, and Kansas City are all expected to premiere on Paramount+ in 2022.
