Sylvester Stallone Breaks All-Time Record with Tulsa King Return

Sylvester Stallone’s hugely popular series Tulsa King returned to Paramount+ for its second season on September 15, and the crime drama is already shattering records for the streaming service. A new report courtesy of Deadline reveals that the Season 2 premiere of Tulsa King amassed 2 million global views in its first 24 hours, an all-time record for the series. In its first seven days, the episode managed to draw in 5.4 million households in total, which Paramount Global Co-CEO and President Chris McCarthy says is a result of two things: Stallone’s drawing power, and the combination of showrunner Terrence Winter and creator Taylor Sheridan’s abilities to tell compelling stories set in a distinctive world.

Tulsa King premiered on Paramount+ in 2022, with its first two episodes also broadcast across cable on the Paramount Network. In the lead up to the Season 2 premiere this month, the entirety of Season 1 aired on CBS earlier in the summer, which was no doubt a contributing factor to its increased social media presence, which grew 934% compared to Season 1.

Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President of Programming at Paramount+, says seeing those kinds of numbers is evidence of Stallone’s character of Dwight Manfredi resonating with audiences, and he can’t wait for everyone to see what’s in store for the remainder of the season.

“It’s tremendous to see the premiere resonate with a record number of viewers. Stallone makes the role of Dwight Manfredi irresistibly compelling, and he is complemented by a phenomenal ensemble cast. We can’t wait to share what his unlikely crew and their formidable adversaries are up to this season.”

Tulsa King Will Continue With Season 3

When we last saw Manfredi at the end of Season 1 of Tulsa King, he was being taken into custody on charges of bribery, leaving the fate of his entire operation and crew up in the air. It was a long wait to find out how he’d finagle his way out of that one, but the premiere of Season 2 saw him negotiate bail, with the sum paid for with help from his daughter, Tina (Tatiana Zappardino).

Now, Dwight faces new challenges as he tries to expand his operations, which unknowingly take him into the path of Bill Bevilaqua (Frank Grillo), head of the Bevilaqua crime family based in Kansas City. To complicate matters even further, Manfredi and his ragtag band of followers are also in the crosshairs of Cal Thresher (Neal McDonough), a ruthless and corrupt businessman who also happens to be one of the largest producers and distributors of marijuana.

All those elements are for sure going to culminate into what Grillo told MovieWeb will be a finale that “ends with a bang.” However, the fun won’t stop there, as Sylvester Stallone himself revealed on Instagram that work on Season 3 has already begun, meaning we’ll have at least one more guaranteed season of adventures with Manfredi and company, and – if the numbers remain steady – possibly even more, which is good news for Stallone and Tulsa King fans everywhere.