SAMUEL L. JACKSON TO HEADLINE HIS FIRST TV SERIES AS PARAMOUNT+ GREENLIGHTS NOLA KING, THE FIRST SPINOFF OF THE HIT SERIES TULSA KING
Jackson’s Character Will Be Introduced in Season Three of TULSA KING Which Premieres on Paramount+ in September
Executive Produced by Taylor Sheridan, David C. Glasser Alongside Sylvester Stallone and Jackson, and Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios
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| Photo Credit: Brian Douglas/Paramount+ |
July 17 – Paramount+ today announced that Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to headline his first TV series following the greenlighting of NOLA KING, the first spinoff of the hit series, TULSA KING. Jackson’s character, Russell Lee Washington Jr., will be introduced in the upcoming, highly anticipated third season of TULSA KING, slated to premiere in September.
NOLA KING follows Russell Lee Washington Jr. (Jackson) who, after befriending Dwight Manfredi (Stallone) during a ten-year stint in federal prison, is sent to Tulsa by New York's Renzetti crime family to take Dwight out once and for all. Inspired by what Dwight created in Tulsa and impressed with the possibilities of second chances, Washington returns to New Orleans, the home he abandoned forty-years ago, to rekindle his relationship with his family and friends, and to take control of the city he left behind. In so doing, he incurs the wrath of his former employers in New York, and makes himself vulnerable to old NOLA foes, both criminal and cop.
“Samuel L. Jackson brings unparalleled presence and global appeal, making him the perfect choice to maximize the momentum of one of our biggest hits and transform it into a hit franchise," said Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO of Paramount Global and President of SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment. “Building on the breakout success of Sylvester Stallone’s TULSA KING, audiences will now experience the full force of Jackson's dynamic, layered performance, supercharging one of Paramount+'s flagship series.”
“Chris McCarthy came to me with a game-changing idea: to elevate my show beyond a mob boss series, creating a dynamic, family-driven franchise,” said Sylvester Stallone. “I was immediately on board. Sam Jackson is the only choice to anchor this new adventure in NOLA and David Glasser and 101 are the perfect partner to bring it to life."
“Partnering with Paramount has been such a rich experience,” said David C. Glasser, CEO 101 Studios. “Taylor had the brilliant idea to drop Sylvester Stallone in the middle of Tulsa and it has been everything we have wanted and more. The success of this show has now led us to another icon. I cannot wait to see what Sam brings to this world.”
NOLA KING is executive produced by Oscar® nominees Taylor Sheridan, Sylvester Stallone and Samuel L. Jackson. David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Michael Friedman and Keith Cox also executive produce. The series is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of the Paramount+ markets.
In 2024, TULSA KING ranked as the #1 global Paramount+ original series and was a top 10 original series across all SVODs in Q4 of that year.
With countless iconic screen performances in over 150 films, Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most respected and beloved performers in Hollywood, standing among the highest global box office earners in cinematic history with his films grossing nearly $15 billion worldwide. He has received Academy Award®, Emmy®, Golden Globe®, SAG® and Tony Award® nominations, and is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, two Independent Spirit Awards, and four NAACP Image Awards®, among myriad honors. In 2022, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to cinema, Jackson received an Honorary Academy Award.
Jackson’s portrayal of ‘Jules’, the philosopher hitman, in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction made an indelible mark on American cinema, and among his many acclaimed performances, he made movie history with Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His career-defining collaborations with both directors include Lee’s Do The Right Thing, Chi-Raq, School Daze, Oldboy and Mo’ Better Blues; and Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Inglorious Basterds and The Hateful Eight.
A franchise powerhouse, Jackson currently holds the record for the most Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, appearing as ‘Nick Fury’ in twelve films and three television series. His other major franchises include the Star Wars prequel trilogy; M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable trilogy; and Pixar’s The Incredibles and its sequel. His impressive filmography includes A Time to Kill, The Red Violin, Black Snake Moan, Changing Lanes, Eve’s Bayou, Snakes on a Plane, Deep Blue Sea, 187, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, and countless others.
On television, Jackson has made a powerful impact both as an actor and producer. In 2022, he starred in and executive produced the critically-acclaimed limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, earning a Critics Choice Award nomination for his performance. He also starred in and executive produced Secret Invasion, once again reprising his role as ‘Nick Fury’. Most recently, Jackson starred in the record-breaking series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist alongside Kevin Hart, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Don Cheadle.
Jackson’s career began on stage, graduating with a degree in Dramatic Arts before originating roles in two of August Wilson’s seminal works, The Piano Lesson and Two Trains Running, and in the original company of The Negro Ensemble’s A Soldier’s Play, by Charles Fuller. On Broadway, he portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop opposite Angela Bassett. He most recently returned to Broadway in 2023 in the acclaimed revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, directed by his wife LaTanya Richardson Jackson, for which he earned his first Tony Award nomination for his performance as ‘Doaker Charles’. He later reprised the role in the Netflix film adaptation of the play, released in November 2024. He earned his second Tony Award nomination as co-producer of the acclaimed Broadway revival of the seminal play Purlie Victorious.
Jackson and his wife recently opened the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center at Spelman College, the sister school of his alma mater, Morehouse College.
Jackson is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, ID and law firm Jackoway Austen Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein LLC.
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| Photo Credit: Art Streiber |
Source: Top 10 streaming ranks based on Nielsen, Q4-24, P2+ mins, excl. movies; Internal global streaming data for Paramount+ ranks.
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SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks is a global network of media assets that reaches over one billion people in more than 180 countries featuring some of the most iconic brands in entertainment including SHOWTIME®, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Network among others – and, its Studios arm which produces 120+ series annually, including some of today’s biggest hits such as Yellowstone, YELLOWJACKETS, Emily in Paris, 1883, 1923, GEORGE & TAMMY, South Park, TULSA KING, Rupaul’s Drag Race, The Challenge and Jersey Shore, to name a few.
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