Sylvester Stallone‘s Tulsa King is going through a big relocation change if the show returns for season 5.
Before Paramount+ announced an official renewal, Variety reported that a writers’ room for Tulsa King season 5 is now open. Despite being largely filmed in Atlanta, the show will make the swap and relocate to New York.
The outlet claimed the decision was driven by both budgetary and storyline considerations. With New York increasing its film tax incentive program twice in the last three years, Tulsa King made the official move.
The potential shakeup comes after Tulsa King has faced some challenges behind the scenes. The Paramount+ series started with Terence Winter as the showrunner alongside Taylor Sheridan. Once Tulsa King was renewed for season 2, Winter resigned as showrunner due to creative differences but returned as the series’ head writer.
Sheridan opted not to fill the role of a showrunner for season 2 and instead hired a director and executive producer to oversee day-to-day production.
Dave Erickson went on to join the show as a showrunner for seasons 3. By season 4, Tulsa King went into production without a showrunner in place and relied on Scott Stone, who was an executive in charge of production from 101 Studios, to oversee the show day to day while Winter was back again as a writer.
Tulsa King isn’t the only show making moves on screen.
News previously broke in May that Tracker is relocating to Los Angeles with the biggest California tax credit for a series to date. According to Deadline, the hit CBS series starring Justin Hartley will move from Vancouver, where the first three seasons were shot. Its studio, 20th Television, is currently locking down production facilities in and around Los Angeles.
Filming for season 4 is slated to begin in late June after a $48 million tax credit.
“I’m proud of what we built in Vancouver. I’m also very excited we’re bringing Tracker to L.A.,” Hartley, 49, said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to continuing to tell these stories alongside the new, fresh places we’ll be heading to next. Most importantly, I want to thank the fans for showing up for us every step of the way. We couldn’t do this without you.”
Hartley later broke his silence on the change.
“In terms of tone and character, I don’t think it’ll impact the show at all,” he told The Wrap in May. “Our show is a road show. Our character goes from town to town across the United States of America and meets people from all different walks of life and helps them out. These strangers become kind of his family in a way.”
The actor expressed excitement about making the move to Los Angeles.
“To be able to shoot in a different place that gives us different landscapes, we’re able to go to places — New York, D.C., the desert, Texas, the beach,” Hartley noted. “It just opens up our world in terms of landscape, which is such a big character of our show.”
