“Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan is leaving Paramount for a new pact at NBCUniversal, with an eight-year film deal beginning in 2026

and a separate television deal commencing at the end of 2028. The value tops $1 billion, and NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios chair

Donna Langley personally courted Sheridan in Weatherford, Texas. Exclusive reporting at TheWrap says Langley aimed to make him “the

Big Fish,” with the TV portion starting after his current Paramount obligations expire.

 

 

Multiple outlets framed the shift as the end of Sheridan’s long Paramount chapter. Wall Street Journal coverage dated October 27, 2025 reported the move to NBCUniversal, while Hollywood Reporter noted the move was “not yet” official even as Comcast leadership publicly discussed it.

Timeline & the money

 

TheWrap details two distinct clocks: a film pact that “starts in 2026 and will run for eight years,” and a television pact that “starts at the end of 2028,” with an overall guarantee “over $1 billion.” Sheridan’s film deal at Paramount ends in March 2026, creating the runway for a Universal film slate first, followed by TV once the Paramount agreement sunsets.

 

 

Houston Chronicle coverage adds a second timing marker used across the industry chatter: a “five-year television contract that would start in 2029,” alongside the chance to make feature films “the next year.” The Chron also characterizes the total as “up to $1 billion,” dependent on output.

TheWrap reports that Sheridan felt “the shift in focus” under CEO David Ellison and executive Cindy Holland, including notes on a show, a pass on a pitch titled “The Correspondent,” and pushback on the Special Ops: Lioness budget. One source says Langley “offered him to be the Big Fish” and that “Cindy wasn’t focused on him… Ellison took his eye off the ball.”

Chron reporting lines up with that portrait and goes further. The outlet recounts a rejected feature script titled “Capture The Flag,” early resistance over Sheridan taking his thriller “F.A.S.T.” to Warner Bros., and even a dust‑up when Nicole Kidman was cast in another series without a heads‑up—awkward news Sheridan allegedly learned “while having dinner with Kidman.” The piece also mentions criticism over mounting budgets and a broader corporate belt‑tightening that included “over 2000 layoffs.”

What happens to “Yellowstone” and the Sheridan-verse?
TheWrap underscores that Sheridan’s current Paramount television obligations run “through 2028,” so he “won’t be abandoning his ongoing Paramount+ shows just yet.” The list is long: the flagship “Yellowstone,” historical spinoffs “1883” and “1923,” the Jeremy Renner drama “Mayor of Kingstown,” the Sylvester Stallone vehicle “Tulsa King,” the Nicole Kidman/Zoe Saldaña thriller “Special Ops: Lioness,” and the Billy Bob Thornton oil‑patch series “Landman.”