Terence Winter, a veteran TV writer/producer, has stepped down as showrunner for Paramount+'s hit Sylvester Stallone vehicle, Tulsa King, amid "creative differences," according to our sister website Deadline.
Winter will serve as EPs on the Taylor Sheridan-created mob drama that in late November was renewed for a second season after only three appearances, which drew a record number of Paramount+ sign-ups.
In a November 2022 interview, Winter — whose previous credentials include Boardwalk Empire (which he created) and The Sopranos (where he was an EP) — explained how his vision for Tulsa King differed from what Sheridan originally intended.
Dwight Manfredi, played by Stallone, had been a "low-level bag man" who "had never been to jail," "had no family," and who was sent to Kansas City "as a reward for a lifetime of service," according to Deadline.
Winter says he wanted to explore the idea of a 75-year-old guy in the twilight of his years, who "can make something of his life." And that version of Dwight, who "has spent the last 25 years in prison and is fully expecting to be rewarded," gets instead sent by the boss' son to Tulsa, which is "more the middle of nowhere" than Kansas City.
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