In a shocking, but also not very shocking, development, television’s top creator, Taylor Sheridan, is leaving his home at Paramount (now Paramount Skydance) for a new film/TV deal at NBCUniversal.
This comes after Skydance’s David Ellison bought Paramount in August, and much of the top brass that Sheridan worked with at the company is either now gone or has lost considerable power. Puck first broke the news of Sheridan’s new deal on Sunday night.
His NBCU deal includes both film and television, and the film part of the deal, which runs for 8 years, will start in March. He doesn’t end his TV pact at Paramount until 2028, and has many shows set to roll out between now and then. But after 2028, he’ll begin creating and producing television series for Universal’s Peacock and NBC. 101 Studios, David Glasser’s production outfit that also produces Sheridan’s projects, is also moving to NBCU with him.
Will ‘Yellowstone’ and other series be leaving Paramount?
Sheridan’s Paramount series won’t go anywhere after he leaves, and he has many new seasons and shows lined up, from a new Tulsa King spinoff, to new seasons of Lioness and Landman, to the many Yellowstone spinoffs that are coming. However, after 2028, and new projects from him will be set at NBCU. However, at NBCU, he’ll have to create new IP and projects, as his Yellowstone universe and other projects won’t move with him.
Specifics on why Sheridan is leaving Paramount?
The Puck exclusive story, reported by Matthew Belloni, goes into more detail about what led up to this exit, including Sheridan’s attraction to NBCUniversal’s track record with elite filmmakers like Jordan Peele and Christopher Nolan under Donna Langley, as well as his admiration for longtime NBCU TV heavyweights like Lorne Michaels and Dick Wolf. There’s also Paramount’s apparent isue with the rising cost of Sheridan’s shows, which Sheridan allegedly heard about, and Ellison’s misstep in trying to secure international rights to a Warner Bros. film Sheridan wrote before his current deal, and how the studio’s recent decision to buy a Nicole Kidman series—without giving Sheridan a heads-up, despite already working with her—only added to the tension.