Paramount+ has confirmed a series order to NOLA King, a spinoff from Taylor Sheridan’s hit drama Tulsa King, which will star Samuel L. Jackson.
As Deadline reported last month, Jackson will appear in multiple episodes of Tulsa King‘s upcoming third season before headlining and executive producing the new series, from 101 Studios and MTV Entertainment Studios.
Paramount+ has released a first-look image of Jackson and Tulsa King star Sylvester Stallone in Episode 309 of the mothership series and more details about the offshoot’s premise. NOLA King follows Russell Lee Washington Jr. (Jackson) who, after befriending Dwight Manfredi (Stallone) during a 10-year stint in federal prison, is sent to Tulsa by New York’s Renzetti crime family to take Dwight out once and for all.
Inspired by what Dwight created in Tulsa and impressed with the possibilities of second chances, Washington returns to New Orleans, the home he abandoned 40 years ago, to rekindle his relationship with his family, friends, and to take control of the city he left behind. In so doing, he incurs the wrath of his former employers in New York, and makes himself vulnerable to old NOLA foes, both criminal and cop.
“Samuel L. Jackson brings unparalleled presence and global appeal, making him the perfect choice to maximize the momentum of one of our biggest hits and transform it into a hit franchise,” said Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO of Paramount Global and President of Showtime/MTV Entertainment. “Building on the breakout success of Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King, audiences will now experience the full force of Jackson’s dynamic, layered performance — supercharging one of Paramount+’s flagship series.”
NOLA King stems from an idea by McCarthy to expand the world of Tulsa King the way Sheridan’s Yellowstone has spawned multiple offshoots. He took it to Stallone.
“Chris McCarthy came to me with a game-changing idea: to elevate my show beyond a mob boss series, creating a dynamic, family-driven franchise,” Stallone said. “I was immediately on board. Sam Jackson is the only choice to anchor this new adventure in NOLA and David Glasser and 101 are the perfect partner to bring it to life.”
This marks the first spinoff from Tulsa King, Paramount+’s No. 1 global original series in 2024, whose third season is set to premiere in September.
NOLA King, which is eying a February start of production, is executive produced by Sheridan, Stallone and Jackson. David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Michael Friedman and Keith Cox also executive produce. The project was originally written by Dave Erickson who was poised to become showrunner but stepped down due to his commitments as showrunner on Tulsa King and another Sheridan series, Mayor of Kingstown. Search is underway for a new showrunner.
“Partnering with Paramount has been such a rich experience,” said Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. “Taylor had the brilliant idea to drop Sylvester Stallone in the middle of Tulsa and it has been everything we have wanted and more. The success of this show has now led us to another icon. I can not wait to see what Sam brings to this world.”
NOLA King is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of the Paramount+ markets.
This marks the first series headlining stint for Jackson, known for his MCU role as Nick Fury, which he has played across films and TV series. On TV, he recently starred in the Peacock limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist. An Academy Award nominee for Pulp Fiction, Jackson received an Honorary Oscar in 2021.
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