‘ Tulsa King’ Season 2 won’t be filming in Oklahoma
Sylvester Stallone is expected to continue his onscreen reign as the “Tulsa King” when the popular Paramount+ series returns for its eagerly awaited Season 2.
Behind the scenes, though, the Oscar-nominated icon and his costars are not expected to return to Oklahoma when filming begins on the sophomore season of the hit streaming show.
“We loved hosting this incredible series for its first season and wish them the best wherever they land,” Rachel Cannon, founder and co-CEO of Prairie Surf Media, told The Oklahoman Wednesday, confirming that the production won’t be returning to Oklahoma to film its second season.
“As we continue to grow this industry into something that competes with states like Georgia and California, we can’t be disappointed if productions need to go somewhere else to fulfill their financial needs. This was a win for Oklahoma. Full stop.”
Prairie Surf Media operates downtown Oklahoma City’s Prairie Surf Studios, which served as the headquarters and primary filming location for “Tulsa King” Season 1.
Jeanette Stanton, director of the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, confirmed Wednesday that the production has not resubmitted its application for the state film incentive.
“After they (were) renewed, they did not contact our office about filming Season 2 here,” she said.
Paramount+ has not yet announced when or where filming is expected to begin on “Tulsa King’s” second season.
What impact did filming on ‘ Tulsa King’ Season 1 have in Oklahoma?
With its first season filmed primarily in the Sooner State, “Tulsa King” – Stallone’s first lead role in a television series and first collabora
tion with Academy Award nominee and “Yellowstone” mastermind Taylor Sheridan – premiered on Paramount+ in November, just 18 months after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law a new $30 million tax incentive for TV and film productions.
So far, the Stallone vehicle is the largest scripted television series to be produced in Oklahoma using the incentives under the Filmed in Oklahoma Act of 2021.
The starry freshman show also is believed to be the largest scripted TV series ever made in Oklahoma, bringing an estimated spend of more than $56 million to the state.
Filming for the series’ first season largely took place in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bethany and the surrounding areas over the course of nearly six months in 2022.
Also listed among the executive producers, Stallone stars in “Tulsa King” as Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a 75year-old New York gangster newly released after serving a 25-year prison sentence. He is quickly banished by his former boss’ son to Tulsa, where he sets out to establish a new criminal empire in a strange new land.
The series’ debut season was an immediate hit: Just days after “Tulsa King’s” Nov. 13 bow, Tanya Giles, chief programming officer for Paramount Streaming, announced that Paramount+ had achieved the most subscriber sign-ups in a single day since the previous year’s relaunch of the streamer. She attributed the success to “Tulsa King” and continued year-over-year growth of the “NFL on CBS.”
With its Nov. 20 cable debut after “Yellowstone” – Sheridan’s recordsmashing flagship series – “Tulsa King” was able to rule as the No. 1 new series premiere on cable of 2022, according to a news release.
With 3.7 million total viewers, “Tulsa King’s” cable bow not only beat HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” but also bested FX’s “The Old Man,” starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman.
Those successes earned the series a speedy renewal for a second season, but didn’t guarantee that the production would return to the Sooner State to film its sophomore run.
“Studios can have a variety of reasons why they choose a different location,” Stanton said.
“Tulsa King’s” explosive Season 1 finale premiered Jan. 8 on Paramount+ and capped the show’s nine-episode freshman run with a cliffhanger.
Will ‘ Tulsa King’s’ departure leave a mark on Oklahoma’s film industry?
Along with the economic impact, Stanton said the making of “Tulsa King’s” first season in Oklahoma helped shine a bright spotlight on the state’s burgeoning film and television industry.
Wherever “Tulsa King’s” sophomore season is made, she said she expects the film industry to continue to grow in the Sooner State. Her office has received 116 applications for the state film incentive since July 1.
“There’s so much wonderful content being made (here), and we’re not suffering at all for applications,” she said. “Oklahoma’s definitely on everybody’s map.”