Showrunner Taylor Sheridan Gets A Billion-Dollar Deal From Universal

Taylor Sheridan, the firebrand showrunner who pumps out an incredible amount of TV shows, all of which have been big hits, has long been the crown jewel of the Paramount family.

He broke onto the scene with Yellowstone, which was a cultural phenomenon that gathered the most viewers in America when it was on, and now is being spun off into several different TV shows.

Since then, he's debuted Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, Landman, Lioness, and that doesn't even count all the movies he's both written and directed.

It's safe to say Sheridan is the MVP of Paramount, and also probably the sole creator keeping the Paramount+ app afloat, since most of the viewers are watching his shows on there.

Well, after Paramount's merger with Skydance, Sheridan has decided to take his talents elsewhere, securing a deal with Donna Langley to go to Universal.

So, with Paramount seemingly starting anew, why did it let him go?

Taylor Sheridan Heads to Universal

With a bunch of big hitters getting Paramount deals, like South Park's Matt Stone and Trey Parker and The Duffers, it seemed like Sheridan would be next.

But word from Puck News is that the execs Sheridan liked got laid off in the merger, and despite him being the obvious bellcow over there, he saw an opportunity to both get paid and to continue to build worlds he believes in within a studio setting that might need him even more.

The rumor is that NBC Universal gave him a billion-dollar deal!

See, Sheridan's shows are notoriously expensive, and while they get numbers, that can put a lot of pressure on a smaller studio, or one trying to compete with a lot of new showrunners and new signings.

Would Sheridan cut budgets to facilitate others? Maybe, but not likely.

Paramount can afford to let him go because it has its sights on trying to get that whole Warner catalog. It can fill his spots with episodes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, and whatever else it's able to acquire and then greenlight more of once it owns the rights.

It can replace Sheridan by just having all sorts of legacy shows and then these people on their new deals.

And Sheridan going to Universal means that Universal is taking streaming seriously, and will want to expand Peacock with more shows and for a broader audience, two things that Sheridan has proven he's great at.

Summing It All Up

This is a seismic shift in all of Hollywood as the town prepares for more consolidation. Seeing a massive showrunner exit means he didn't think he was getting the respect he wanted, but also knew that his shows were not a priority at a new place.

With Paramount seeking to buy its way into being a Netflix competitor, you get the strategy on the other side of Universal now trying to build something that keeps them around.

We're going to see which pays off in real time.

Let me know what you think in the comments.