Paramount+ has unveiled first-look images for the Taylor Sheridan-penned series, which follows Jackson’s hitman-turned-hustler character as he builds his own criminal empire in Texas.
Samuel L. Jackson isn’t just stealing scenes anymore, he’s getting his own show. Paramount+ has released the first images for Frisco King, the Tulsa King spinoff built entirely around Jackson’s character, marking one of the more notable expansions of Taylor Sheridan’s growing television empire and putting a legendary Black actor squarely at the center of it.
Jackson reprises the role of Russell Lee Washington Jr., known as Lee, the hitman who first showed up as a guest star in Tulsa King Season 3, in episodes “Dead Weight” and “Jesus Lizard.” In the original series, Lee is sent by New York mobsters to kill Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) but instead recognizes him as the man who saved his life two decades earlier in federal prison. Rather than pull the trigger, Lee walks away and sets out to build his own enterprise, this time in Frisco, Texas, a fast-growing suburb of Dallas.
The show’s path to Frisco wasn’t the original plan. It was first titled NOLA King, with Lee returning to his hometown of New Orleans to set up shop. Sheridan ultimately moved the setting, and executive producer and director Christina Alexandra Voros explained the shift came down to contrast. New Orleans, she noted, already has its share of gangsters and hustlers built into its culture, whereas dropping Lee into a place that’s newer and more buttoned-up gives the story more tension to work with. Whatever the reasoning, the retitling makes one thing clear about the show’s focus: Voros put it plainly, calling it “Frisco King is Russell Washington’s show.”
That’s a notable statement given the franchise’s origins. Stallone remains attached as an executive producer and will appear as Manfredi in the premiere episode, but after that, he stays put in Tulsa while Lee carves out his own path in Texas. It’s a passing of the torch, of sorts, handing an established franchise’s spotlight to Jackson’s character for a full season.
Jackson, an Oscar nominee for Pulp Fiction and an honorary Oscar recipient, leads a cast that includes Asa Germann (The Boys: Gen V) as Teddy, a college dropout with entrepreneurial ambitions; Kai Caster (Spider-Noir) as hotel valet Keith; and Lilah Pate (Outer Banks) and Savanna Gann (English Teacher) as cheerleaders London and Avery, respectively. Together, they make up the unlikely crew Lee recruits to help build his operation from the ground up.
Sheridan wrote all eight episodes of Frisco King‘s first season and executive produces alongside Stallone, Jackson, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Voros, Michael Friedman, and Keith Cox. The series filmed in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning in March 2026.
Frisco King adds another branch to Sheridan’s sprawling television footprint, which already spans Yellowstone and its extended universe of 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch, along with Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, and Landman. It marks the first spinoff to emerge from Tulsa King specifically.
A premiere date for Frisco King has not yet been announced, though it’s expected to stream on Paramount+ sometime in 2026. Tulsa King Season 4 premieres October 16.
Paramount+ has unveiled first-look images for the Taylor Sheridan-penned series, which follows Jackson’s hitman-turned-hustler character as he builds his own criminal empire in Texas.
Samuel L. Jackson isn’t just stealing scenes anymore, he’s getting his own show. Paramount+ has released the first images for Frisco King, the Tulsa King spinoff built entirely around Jackson’s character, marking one of the more notable expansions of Taylor Sheridan’s growing television empire and putting a legendary Black actor squarely at the center of it.
Jackson reprises the role of Russell Lee Washington Jr., known as Lee, the hitman who first showed up as a guest star in Tulsa King Season 3, in episodes “Dead Weight” and “Jesus Lizard.” In the original series, Lee is sent by New York mobsters to kill Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) but instead recognizes him as the man who saved his life two decades earlier in federal prison. Rather than pull the trigger, Lee walks away and sets out to build his own enterprise, this time in Frisco, Texas, a fast-growing suburb of Dallas.
The show’s path to Frisco wasn’t the original plan. It was first titled NOLA King, with Lee returning to his hometown of New Orleans to set up shop. Sheridan ultimately moved the setting, and executive producer and director Christina Alexandra Voros explained the shift came down to contrast. New Orleans, she noted, already has its share of gangsters and hustlers built into its culture, whereas dropping Lee into a place that’s newer and more buttoned-up gives the story more tension to work with. Whatever the reasoning, the retitling makes one thing clear about the show’s focus: Voros put it plainly, calling it “Frisco King is Russell Washington’s show.”
That’s a notable statement given the franchise’s origins. Stallone remains attached as an executive producer and will appear as Manfredi in the premiere episode, but after that, he stays put in Tulsa while Lee carves out his own path in Texas. It’s a passing of the torch, of sorts, handing an established franchise’s spotlight to Jackson’s character for a full season.
Jackson, an Oscar nominee for Pulp Fiction and an honorary Oscar recipient, leads a cast that includes Asa Germann (The Boys: Gen V) as Teddy, a college dropout with entrepreneurial ambitions; Kai Caster (Spider-Noir) as hotel valet Keith; and Lilah Pate (Outer Banks) and Savanna Gann (English Teacher) as cheerleaders London and Avery, respectively. Together, they make up the unlikely crew Lee recruits to help build his operation from the ground up.
Sheridan wrote all eight episodes of Frisco King‘s first season and executive produces alongside Stallone, Jackson, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Voros, Michael Friedman, and Keith Cox. The series filmed in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning in March 2026.
Frisco King adds another branch to Sheridan’s sprawling television footprint, which already spans Yellowstone and its extended universe of 1883, 1923, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch, along with Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, and Landman. It marks the first spinoff to emerge from Tulsa King specifically.
A premiere date for Frisco King has not yet been announced, though it’s expected to stream on Paramount+ sometime in 2026. Tulsa King Season 4 premieres October 16.