You gotta hand it to Taylor Sheridan. He ignores the plentiful drama that surrounds discussion about his Paramount Network (and Paramount+) shows, puts his head down, and simply works. That’s presumably how he can bang out what feels like 80 shows per year, but a specific show happens to be his most popular non-Yellowstone title. That would be the hard-to-resist Tulsa King starring Sylvester Stallone as the fresh-out-of-prison mobster who got shuffled off to the second-most populous Oklahoman metro area. He then proceeded to start running the town while assembling a new criminal empire.
The people responded to Dwight “The General” Manfredi, and even though this series has also seen its fair share of behind-the-scenes upheaval, a second season is in the works. Let’s roll into the Tulsa airport like Stallone and discuss what could come next.
Plot
Somehow, there will be no showrunner for Tulsa King going forward, which is not unusual for a Taylor Sheridan series but still somewhat unexpected because Boardwalk Empire‘s Terence Winter began the show in that seat. He previously stepped down from the position, although he is still on the scene as a writer and executive producer. Additionally, Deadline reports that Craig Zisk (Weeds) will be now directing and executive producing.
Deadline further reports that “comedy series” is now the official label here. Surely, that’s a testament to not only how this show pulled a few fast ones while portraying life’s absurdities but also in how much Stallone is embracing this shift in his career.
Production has also largely moved away (yet not entirely) from Oklahoma with Atlanta stepping in for Tulsa, which no doubt came as a relief to Stallone, who famously didn’t enjoy the blazing summer heat the Sooner State. Granted, it’s not clear how Atlanta will present any relief on that note, but we’ll go with it. Why not? Sadly, however, this means that Dwight will not be howling any more in the middle of Tulsa’s Center of the Universe attraction, but perhaps some livestock can still randomly wander by on the Atlanta set.
As the first season hammered home, Dwight’s loyal mafia capo saw himself get royally screwed a few times after keeping his mouth shut for 25 years in prison. What comes next? This week, Stallone marked the beginning of filming with an Instagrammed video: “[Y]ou have no idea what’s coming.”
What does that mean? There’s no synopsis yet, and hopefully that will come soon.
Certainly, we will find out if Manfredi is really going back inside after that ATF business, during which Stacy (Andrea Savage) handed over that zip drive to save her own butt. As a result, Dwight was apparently being carted back to prison during what was supposed to be a celebratory night for him. Sheridan and Winter aren’t saying jack about where the scripts go (and good for them), but we can probably assume that Manfredi somehow wiggles out of the situation because the series would not be Tulsa King if he’s running the show from behind bars. Also! We need to see more emotional growth from the guy, but with a comedic slant, which this show has been doing while growing legs.
Cast
Thank god that Stallone decided to take a second round because nobody else could embody Dwight Manfredi. Annabella Sciorra and Tatiana Zappardino have been bumped up to series-regular status, and returning cast members will include Andrea Savage and Garrett Hedlund with Vincent Piazza, Dana Delaney, Max Casella, Martin Starr, and Domenick Lombardozzi.
Release Date
Filming will be ongoing this summer, which means that Tulsa King should be back on screens in late 2024, possibly early 2025.
Trailer
Oh, we wish there was a trailer. Instead, here’s Stallone rallying his newfound mafia fam/troops and demonstrating why he is referred to as “The General.”