Frisco King Trailer and Premiere Date: Samuel L. Jackson's Tulsa King Spinoff Arrives December 18

Paramount+ has released the first teaser for Frisco King, the Tulsa King spinoff starring Samuel L. Jackson. The series premieres Friday, December 18, with two episodes, and new episodes follow every Friday, according to TVLine and Deadline.

The announcement gives viewers a firm date for one of the more closely watched expansions of the Tulsa King universe, and it arrives with a first look at how Jackson's character will operate in his new surroundings. The streamer has also confirmed that the premiere will debut as a double episode, a release pattern that gives the series a fuller opening before it settles into a weekly rhythm.

A New Orleans Gangster Starts Over in Texas

Jackson plays Russell Lee Washington Jr., a New Orleans gangster introduced in Tulsa King Season 3. After moving to Frisco, Texas, he finds what the official synopsis calls a “hustler's playground hidden beneath the polished surface of American suburbia.” He recruits a protégé, a driver and other partners and turns small schemes into big business as the risks grow, according to TVLine.

The premise follows the template that made the parent series work. Tulsa King centers on Dwight Manfredi, a New York mobster who is released after 25 years in prison and sent to Oklahoma to build a criminal operation far from the old neighborhood. The fish-out-of-water setup let the show mine humor from the clash between a veteran underworld figure and a Midwestern city that did not know what had arrived. Frisco King appears to apply the same idea to a different character and a different corner of the country, swapping the Oklahoma plains for the manicured streets of a Dallas-area suburb.

Why Frisco Is an Interesting Choice of Setting

Frisco sits north of Dallas and has grown into one of the better-known suburbs in the region, recognized for master-planned neighborhoods, shopping districts and professional sports facilities, including the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. It is not the kind of place that usually comes to mind when audiences picture organized crime.

That contrast is the engine of the synopsis. A community built around order, comfort and appearances offers a gangster plenty of opportunity precisely because few people there expect to encounter one. The official description leans on this idea with its reference to a hidden playground beneath a polished exterior, which suggests the series will spend as much time on the surface of suburban life as on the schemes running underneath it.

What the Teaser Shows

The teaser shows Russell plotting his new venture with Sylvester Stallone's Dwight “The General” Manfredi, per TVLine. HeyUGuys notes Stallone is billed with a special appearance, which signals that the connection to Tulsa King is meant to be a visible part of the launch even though the new series is built around Jackson.

Pairing the two actors in the first footage is a clear marketing choice. Both are established screen presences with long careers in crime and action stories, and seeing them share a scene gives the spinoff an immediate link to the show that spawned it. For viewers who followed Russell's arrival in Season 3, the teaser also confirms that his story is continuing rather than starting from scratch.

The Cast and Creative Team

The cast also includes Asa Germann (Gen V), Kai Caster (Yellowstone), Lilah Pate (Outer Banks) and Savanna Gann (English Teacher). The group mixes performers from a superhero satire, a ranch drama, a teen adventure series and a recent comedy, an unusually varied set of credits for a crime story.

Behind the camera, Taylor Sheridan, who created Tulsa King, is writing all eight Season 1 scripts. That is a notable commitment, since a single writer handling an entire season is uncommon on large television productions and tends to produce a consistent voice from one episode to the next. Jackson, Stallone, David C. Glasser and LaTanya Richardson Jackson are among the executive producers, and Paramount Television Studios and 101 Studios produce.

Sheridan's Expanding Television Footprint

The spinoff adds to a crowded slate for Sheridan at Paramount+. His work on Yellowstone turned a ranch family saga into one of the most prominent dramas on American television and led to a string of related and independent projects, among them Tulsa King and Landman. Frisco King extends that pattern by building a second series out of a character who first appeared in an existing one.

The approach carries obvious advantages for a streaming service. A spinoff arrives with built-in awareness, a ready audience and characters who have already been tested in front of viewers. It also carries risk, because a character who works as a guest presence does not always carry a full series. Russell's introduction in Season 3 gave the producers a chance to gauge audience response before committing to a standalone show, and the decision to proceed suggests the character landed.

From NOLA King to Frisco King

Paramount+ ordered the series in July 2025 under the title NOLA King, with Russell based in New Orleans. It was retitled Frisco King in February 2026. The new name matches the synopsis, which has Russell leaving Louisiana behind and building his operation in Texas.

The change in title and setting reflects how the concept developed between the original order and the first teaser. A New Orleans identity remains part of the character's background, but the story now unfolds in a suburban landscape rather than in the city that shaped him. That shift keeps the central tension of the franchise intact: a man formed by one culture trying to profit in another.

Release Schedule and How to Watch

Frisco King premieres Friday, December 18, on Paramount+ with two episodes. New episodes then arrive every Friday, a weekly schedule that keeps the series in conversation over the holiday period rather than releasing every episode at once. Viewers who have not watched Tulsa King can start with the spinoff, though those who saw Season 3 will recognize Russell and understand how he ended up in Texas.

With the date set and the first footage public, attention now turns to whether the series can match the appeal of the show that inspired it. The ingredients are in place: a lead with considerable screen presence, a franchise connection, a writer with a proven track record on the platform and a setting that offers fresh ground for crime drama.