Major Upheaval Hits ‘Tulsa King’ Season 4 Set

Tulsa King is going through a major overhaul for Season 4.

Deadline reports that a whopping 26 crew members were asked not to return for Season 4.

Production was set to resume this week, with most, if not all, of Tulsa King’s 600-member crew that departed expected to be replaced. Affected departments include sound, camera operating, stunts, rigging, transportation, production office, extras casting, hair, photography, and stunts. Everyone was reportedly led to believe they would have a job for the new season after Tulsa King was eyed for a two-season renewal when star and EP Sylvester Stallone signed a new deal in 2024.

Crew members learned just a few weeks shy of production starting that they would no longer be working on the show. Freddie Poole, who was nominated for an Emmy twice for stunt coordinating on Tulsa King, was among those crew members, learning just two weeks before his anticipated start date. Poole, who was a stunt double for Stallone, had been working with the actor for 14 years.

“I feel really bad for the Atlanta film community with just the way things went down,” Pool said. He was told by 101 Studios he was losing his position for “creative reasons” but was offered a new role on the series as a photo double, which he ended up declining. He continued, “I’ve been in this business for 30 years and I’ve been on shows for multiple seasons, and I’ve never seen this kind of turnover.”

Tulsa King was renewed for Season 4 in September ahead of the Season 3 premiere. The crew member cutbacks are not the only change for Season 4. Terence Winter will be returning as executive producer and head writer, with Season 3 showrunner Dave Erickson exiting. Winter served as showrunner and EP during the first season, but then stepped down. Erickson took over beginning with Season 2. Although Winter was no longer the showrunner, he rejoined as head writer and EP in Season 2.

News of the cutbacks comes after it was announced that creator Taylor Sheridan would be leaving Paramount for a bigger film and TV deal at NBCUniversal. The five-year overall deal will begin on Jan. 1, 2029 after his overall TV deal with Paramount ends in 2028. It was also recently announced that Paramount would once again be cutting jobs, with around 1,000 U.S.-based workers being let go, followed by another 1,000 in the near future. If and how this will affect Tulsa King after the initial cuts is unknown.