The General is back, with Paramount+ dropping a new trailer for the upcoming four season of “Tulsa King.”
The Taylor Sheridan-produced dramedy continues the adventures of Dwight “The General” Manfredi, played by legendary Hollywood action hero Sylvester Stallone.
The upcoming season will find the former NYC mobster continue to consolidate control of his crime empire while trying to take the whole enterprise legit.
Battleground Tulsa
“Dwight (Stallone) fights to legitimize his empire and protect his crew as corrupt politicians, dangerous new enemies, and a crushing personal loss hit from every direction,” declares the Season 4 synopsis.
“However, every hard-won gain comes with even harder truths: about loyalty, leadership and the cost of ambition,” the synopsis continues. “Each move drags Dwight deeper into the street instincts he left behind in New York — turning Tulsa into a battleground and Dwight into the one threat no one can afford to underestimate.”
A Shared Experience
ParamountThe series’ producer and its star shared similar origin stories, something that Stallone related in an interview with People.
Sheridan had spent years climbing the Hollywood ladder as an actor, with limited success to show for it before pivoting to screenwriting and becoming a TV legend.
Similarly, Stallone was having little luck with his acting career when he sold his script for “Rocky” — under the provision that play the leading role, which ultimately made him a superstar.
“There was a crossroads where I knew I was always going to be ‘thug number three’ coming through the door,” Stallone explained. “I saw the handwriting on the wall and knew I had to pivot, big time, and the same thing happened with him.”
Stallone then said of Sheridan, “He was a serious actor, but no one was giving him his break. He realized the clock was running out, and he had to learn to write. He was always kind of a lonely kid, like I was. I was always making up fantasy stories in the mirror and all that stuff. But I get his dilemma. I get the reason he pursued another career. It isn’t because you wanted to, you had to, or you’re gone. He’s a survivalist.”
A Chance Meeting
ParamountLooking back, Stallone recalled the first time he met Sheridan, more than a decade earlier.
“When we finally met — unwittingly at a barn, both riding horses — I started to talk to this kid. I go, ‘Why don’t you help me write “Rambo,” the fourth one?’ He says, ‘I’m working on this thing called “Sicario.”’ So he went off in his own direction, and so did I. About 10 years later, here he comes with this idea.”
That idea was “Tulsa King,” which resonated with Stallone as he found himself at a career crossroads.
“My career started out dramatic, then it got very physical, and I wanted to stay in that action genre for a reason,” he told People. “Since we don’t really have new heroes like Achilles or Hercules, these were the characters we created.”
As he grew older, however, roles that were less action-oriented began to hold new appeal.
“But as time moved on, I thought, ‘I want to go back to something like “Rocky,” which was a drama. There’s only six minutes of fighting outta two hours, that’s it,” Stallone added. “Then Taylor Sheridan called me and goes, ‘You want to play a gangster out of water in Tulsa, Oklahoma?’ I go, ‘Oh — now there’s a challenge. Absolutely.’”
When Does ‘Tulsa King’ Premiere?
The fourth season of “Tulsa King” arrives October 16 on Paramount+/
