Say goodbye to your favorite trashy cowboy streamer, because Taylor Sheridan, the creative powerhouse behind Yellowstone, Landman, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, and Lioness, is leaving Paramount for pastures new. After nearly a decade of building one of the most successful franchises in modern television, the writer, director, and showrunner is headed for NBCUniversal under a massive long-term film and television deal.

According to initial reporting from Puck, the deal represents one of the biggest creator poaches in recent industry history — a move reportedly orchestrated by Donna Langley, NBCU’s chief content officer and longtime studio head. While the film portion of Sheridan’s new arrangement will begin as early as March 2026, the television side won’t take effect until 2028, when his current Paramount contract expires. From that point forward, all of Sheridan’s shows will live exclusively on NBCUniversal’s platforms, including Peacock and NBC.

Sheridan’s partnership with Paramount began in 2018 with the premiere of Yellowstone, the modern Western drama that revitalized the network and spawned a full-blown universe of prequels and spinoffs. That empire — including 1883, 1923, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, and the upcoming Dutton Ranch and Y: Marshals — turned Sheridan into TV’s most bankable creator, often compared to Dick Wolf or Taylor Hackford for his prolific, franchise-driven storytelling.

But cracks began to show after Skydance Media acquired Paramount this past August. Sources say Sheridan grew increasingly unhappy as longtime allies like Chris McCarthy and Keyes Hill-Edgar exited, and as new leadership — including streaming chief Cindy Holland — began scrutinizing budgets on Sheridan’s famously expensive productions. Series like 1923 and Lioness reportedly cost between $15–$20 million per episode, while others, like Tulsa King, were far less pricey but still ambitious in scale.

Adding fuel to the fire, Skydance chief David Ellison allegedly tried to involve Paramount in distributing F.A.S.T., a Warner Bros. film based on one of Sheridan’s old scripts that will star 1923‘s Brandon Sklenar. It’s fair to say Sheridan wasn’t pleased, and the final straw, according to insiders, came when Holland greenlit Nicole Kidman’s new drama Discretion without notifying Sheridan, despite his existing partnership with Kidman on Lioness.

What Happens to the Yellowstone Universe Now?

Paramount still controls the existing Sheridan shows, and his remaining commitments to the studio like Landman, NOLA King with Samuel L. Jackson and the Yellowstone sequel Dutton Ranch starring Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly, will continue airing through 2028 but after that, it’s NBCUniversal’s purview. In other words: once Sheridan walks, Yellowstone moseys on up with him.

Paramount will retain Yellowstone and its connected titles for now, but the writing is on the barn wall.