You Won’t Believe How Much Money ‘Yellowstone’ Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Shows Make!
Taylor Sheridan has emerged as the current King of Television after the massive success of Yellowstone led to a whole slate of shows, but even so, it’s hard to quite fathom exactly how much money his shows are raking in for the Paramount Network — and how much they cost.
Sheridan was a struggling actor in Hollywood for many years, once even famously living with his dog between his car and a tent while he was trying to make a living as an actor with small roles on shows including CSI and NYPD Blue.
Once he quit acting and began working as a screenwriter, director and producer, he began to find massive success with movies including Sicario, Hell or High Water and Wind River.
But he didn’t really catapult into the mainstream public consciousness until the smash-hit success of Yellowstone, which started with modest ratings in 2018 before building its audience into the most-watched drama on cable television.
That success led to a television empire for Sheridan, who has gone on to develop two Yellowstone prequels, 1883 and 1923, as well as a large slate of other programming for Paramount Network.
Sheridan’s other shows include Mayor of Kingstown, Lioness, Landman, Tulsa King, Lawmen: Bass Reeves and more, and in an interview with Australian Financial Review in 2023, he revealed the staggering amount of Paramount Network money that’s in play across all of his shows.
“I’m shooting over $US1 billion [$1.5 billion] worth of television shows,” Sheridan stated. “That’s how much money they’ve trusted me with, and I have to go make more than that with the product I create. So yes, it’s a tremendous amount of responsibility … I’m aware of the opportunity, and so I do spread myself thin as a result.”
Sheridan’s multi-year deal with Paramount pays him a reported $200, and he also charges the network to use his ranches and his better-trained horses in his shows, providing another source of revenue. One would imagine he also owns a significant piece of the merchandise and licensing rights to Yellowstone, which has authorized everything from jackets and hats to flasks, a line of spices and even a line of Yellowstone meat sticks.
Sheridan acknowledges that he can only maintain his current pace for three to five years, “at least as far as me writing, directing, editing, casting,” and he’s trying to make as much hay as he can while the sun is shining.
“I don’t know that I will ever have this creative freedom again,” he said. “Hopefully, I can ride off into the sunset before something tanks.”
Yellowstone is set to come to an end after the Season 5 finale on Sunday night (Dec. 15), and Paramount has already announced an upcoming Yellowstone sequel titled The Madison, which stars Michelle Pfeiffer, former Suits star Patrick J. Adams and former Lost star Matthew Fox.
Additionally, Deadline reports that Yellowstone stars Cole Hauser (Rip Wheeler) and Kelly Reilly (Beth Dutton) have signed on to continue their roles in another Yellowstone sequel, with no further details yet available. Paramount has not confirmed that reporting.
