It’s already been revealed that Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone will star in a new TV series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. However, the story of how long the show took to come together recently came to light. While it’s almost hard to believe, it only took a matter of hours to have the new show fleshed out, and within a couple of days, Stallone was on board.
Some TV or movie projects can take years to hash out. Yet that wasn’t the case for Kansas City, which will follow a New York City Italian mobster who moves to Kansas City, Missouri. Sylvester Stallone will portray the main character Sal who finds his new surroundings difficult to adjust to. It’s set to be the Rocky actor’s first TV role of his 50-year acting career.
Sheridan works closely with 101 Studios CEO David Glasser who produces Yellowstone and 1883. He recently spoke to Deadline and shared how quickly the show came about. He called Sheridan on a Friday with an idea for a new show that would feature Stallone. Glasser noted he was thinking about something mob-based, and Sheridan ran with it.
“I said, ‘Taylor what if you came up with the cool wildness of Goodfellas with Stallone?'” Glasser told Deadline. “He takes a breath, I’m not even joking, and he goes, ‘Hmm, that’s a good idea, Glasser.’ Then, on the spot, he proceeds to spend 45 minutes pitching me a story that he just created in his head. This is Friday at 3 p.m. It is a great story, and nothing is written down.”
Sylvester Stallone Loved Sheridan’s Pitch, Signed On Immediately
Taylor Sheridan went to work over the next 48 hours putting the story in his head in that phone call to paper. By Sunday afternoon, he already had written a pilot script for Kansas City. Yet there was still one big hurdle – getting Sylvester Stallone to say yes to the project.
David Glasser went ahead and contacted network executives about the new show. Additionally, Sheridan phoned Stallone and pitched the idea of Sal. By the end of the call, the Rambo actor agreed to the role. They already had their lead, so the next day on Monday, Glasser and Sheridan presented Kansas City to Paramount. The two men got the green light within three days of coming up with the idea.
“This is how it happens with him,” Glasser said of Sheridan in the interview. “He just picks up the phone and calls people like Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Hanks, Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and says, ‘hey, I’ve got this idea. I call to do the deal with the agent afterwards.'”
Sal actor Sylvester Stallone will also sign on as an executive producer of Kansas City. The show is already planned for release on Paramount+, similar to Sheridan’s other shows like Yellowstone, 1883, and Mayor of Kingstown.
