Taylor Sheridan could be leaving the Paramount ranch for good. As originally reported by Puck‘s Matt Belloni, the prolific creator of shows such as Landman, Tulsa King, and the entire extended Yellowstone universe—all of which he staged at Paramount—is expected to take his horse to NBCUniversal for good. Sheridan has reportedly signed a nearly eight-year film deal with the Paramount rival, which will begin in March 2026. Perhaps even more notably, he also has a five-year TV deal in place, which will kick off as soon as his current pact with Paramount ends in 2028. That means 101 Studios, the production company behind all of Sheridan’s shows, will also move over to Universal. After the move, Sheridan is expected to exclusively create shows for Universal platforms, including NBC and Peacock.
Belloni reports that the deal likely saw a “major” pay bump for Sheridan, but it wasn’t really about his own salary. Paramount has undergone some major changes under new owners Skydance and CEO David Ellison, and Belloni suggests that Sheridan wasn’t a fan of the new regime. The creator doles out hit after hit, but he doesn’t do it for cheap. He regularly shoots on-location in Texas and Montana, and courts huge stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Annette Bening, and Kevin Costner (before the two had a falling out and the latter left the Dutton ranch) to lead his shows. Incoming Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland reportedly questioned some of Sheridan’s budgets, and the TV creator wasn’t happy about the fact that many of the executives he’d previously worked with were either fired or marginalized under the new leadership. While Ellison told CNBC in August that he had a “really good relationship with Taylor and I think he is literally a singular genius and content creator,” he failed to renew Sheridan’s film deal or lock him down for TV beyond 2028.
According to Puck, Sheridan’s shocking move isn’t just to put some distance between him and Paramount. He was reportedly also “intrigued” by the filmmaker-friendly environment Donna Langley, the long-time Universal film executive who recently took over television programming for the company, has fostered for other big names like Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and Jordan Peele.
Of course, Sheridan’s contributions to the Paramount landscape will linger long after he’s gone. The company has the rights to Yellowstone and all of its various spin-offs, and “can continue to make Yellowstone spinoffs until the Duttons go to outer space” if it wants, per Belloni. Even if it does, this is Taylor Sheridan we’re talking about. It wouldn’t be shocking if he managed to conjure an even bigger juggernaut at his new home.
