For decades, Sylvester Stallone has been known to the public as a titan of cinema. The 75-year-old Hollywood legend has been Rocky Balboa, Judge Dredd and even King Shark of The Suicide Squad. Despite this, Stallone keeps finding ways to change things up, and he’s now set to do so again. The actor is officially set to take on his first starring role in a TV series. And if that weren’t exciting enough, the series comes from the mind of Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan.
The show, titled Kansas City, places Sylvester Stallone in the role of New York-based Italian mobster Sal who, for reasons yet to be revealed, must relocate to present-day Missouri, per Deadline. With this, the aged crime boss must rebuild his empire in the new town and will receive the help of some unusual characters in doing so. I don’t know about all of you, but this premise sounds very intriguing to me. And it honestly sounds like the perfect role for Stallone, who should be able to flex his acting chops here. It’s also more than likely that he’ll be surrounded by a strong ensemble of actors, which should make things even more interesting.
It's a little surprising that the Rocky creator hasn't had more roles like this. Though the actor has played “questionable” characters before, it’ll be nice to see him flesh out a role over the span of multiple episodes as opposed to only a few hours. As with any good protagonist, Sal is sure to have layers, but it seems safe to assume that he’s someone that likely has no problem getting his hands dirty when needed.
Of course, the behind-the-scenes talent that’s at play here cannot be denied. Taylor Sheridan has truly made a name for himself as a creative in a short amount of time. He’s the mastermind behind a number of TV’s hottest shows like Mayor of Kingstown but, of course, his crowning jewel is still the Yellowstone franchise, which is branching out in some interesting ways. Sheridan has a knack for creative intense but grounded worlds, and Kansas City should have all of his signature creative sensibilities.
What’s even better is that the super producer will be joined by Terrence Winter, who serves as a co-creator on the show. Winter has been a part of some of the biggest series to ever grace the small screen, having served as a writer on The Sopranos and the creator of Boardwalk Empire. More recently, he was set to write HBO Max’s cop-centric spinoff series of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. However, he eventually departed the project over creative differences.
Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter honestly seem like a match made in TV heaven. At this point in their careers, both producers have clearly mastered crime dramas. Based on what we’ve seen from their past TV protagonists like Nucky Thompson and John Dutton, this new lead character should be a real piece of work. All in all, I’d expect the pair to mesh well as they proceed to bring this new tale to life.
An official release window has not been announced for Kansas City at this time, though the series is set to make its eventual debut on Paramount+. If you’re like me, you’ll be waiting intently to get your first glimpse at the show.
