Yellowstone came to an end earlier this year with the release of the six-episode-long second half of its fifth season. Since then, numerous of

its spin-offs have been gaining buzz in anticipation of making their way to the screens soon. However, now Taylor Sheridan has left

Paramount to join NBCUniversal, sparking concern about the future of the franchise and its spin-offs.For those who might not know,

 

 

Paramount owns Yellowstone and other franchises that the mastermind has created for the company over the last decade, as is typical in these deals. Plus, Sheridan’s TV deal with Paramount is not up until the end of 2028, so not all the spin-offs…

 

 

In what amounts to a HUGE shift at Paramount post-merger with Skydance, TV creative Taylor Sheridan, best-known for his neo-Western series “Yellowstone” and a string of other shows at the company, is heading elsewhere. Over the weekend, news broke that Sheridan would be making a deal with NBCUniversal that’ll see him move over to their camp in March (alongside David Glasser’s 101 Studios) as his previous deal with Paramount expires in 2028 (when he’s expected to be exclusive with NBCUniversal).

 

 

First reported on by Puck News and backed up by trades, it would be considered one of the biggest company news items outside of poaching The Duffer Brothers (“Stranger Things”) from Netflix and James Mangold‘s overall deal with Paramount Pictures (which likely meant “Swamp Thing” and “Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi” may not be moving forward at DC Studios or Lucasfilm). Deadline adds that the five-year deal between Sheridan and NBCUniversal (home of longtime TV creatives Dick Wolf and Lorne Michaels) begins in January 2029, which will cover film, television, and streaming.

READ MORE: 12 October TV Shows To Watch: ‘IT,’ ‘Mayor Of Kingstown,’ ‘Nobody Wants This’ & More

Puck claimed that Sheridan wasn’t happy with the new regime, led by Skydance Media’s David Ellison, son of tech giant and billionaire Larry Ellison (donor/supporter of President Trump), as the family had been recently making offers to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery (reportedly rejected) after gobbling up Paramount and their subsidiaries. They also say sources have told them that Sheridan may have been irked when his recent budgets were questioned by incoming streaming chief Cindy Holland. Given the high-profile talent (mostly a throughline of Sheridan shows, having a big name involved) and operating costs of the Sheridan dynasty, everyone should have known the shows were pricey ventures long before settling into new oversight positions.

Another aspect here is that Sheridan, before getting into television, was not only writing high-profile film scripts (“Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” being highlights) but was also directing “Wind River” and the Angelina Jolie thriller “Those Who Wish Me Dead.” So, potentially getting the extra wiggle room from NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley in a new film pact to move between TV and film seamlessly could become more commonplace, as Sheridan has been dedicated to churning out a high volume of shows in his short tenure at Paramount, which has certainly limited his film work.

The report stated that Sheridan was also being courted for a potential new separate film deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, Netflix, and Apple being among those suitors. It sounds like Sheridan may simply see a better creative home with Langley/NBCUniversal than what Ellison and others were offering.

What exactly this means for Sheridan’s existing shows at Paramount, like Sly Stallone‘s “Tulsa King” (the yet-to-air Samuel L. Jackson spinoff “NOLA King“), Jeremy Renner‘s “Mayor of Kingstown,” Billy Bob Thorton‘s “Landman,” Zoe Saldaña‘s military spy thriller “Lioness,” the multiple “Yellowstone” spinoffs/prequels (“Dutton Ranch” and “Y: Marshals“), and other major TV projects, remains to be seen (not looking good beyond 2028, but new people could, in theory, take over creative duties). Then again, if these shows are seen by the new brass as too costly, Paramount might end them entirely to focus on other shows.

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End of the day, it comes off like Sheridan wanted the creative freedom, funding, and studio backing to do more than just television that this new Paramount regime wasn’t willing to offer him. The future seems bright for Sheridan; we’ll have to wait and see what becomes of his legacy at Paramount and what new projects emerge at NBCUniversal.