Taylor Sheridan’s move to NBCUniversal was not initially framed around the sprawling television franchise that made him one of Paramount’s most consequential creative forces. It started with movies.
NBCUniversal Entertainment chair Donna Langley has explained that her conversations with Sheridan began by focusing on the film side of his work. That distinction matters because Sheridan’s existing Paramount arrangement treated television and film differently: his movie arrangement was a first-look deal, while his television commitment carried substantially greater weight.
In plain terms, a first-look arrangement generally gives a company the first chance to consider a creator’s project before it can be taken elsewhere. It is not necessarily the same thing as a firm obligation to make every project. Langley characterized Sheridan’s film deal as having fewer restrictions than his television agreement, leaving an opening for NBCUniversal to build a larger long-term pact around the part of his career that had, in recent years, been secondary to his TV output.
The result is a phased transition. The film component of Sheridan’s NBCUniversal deal is expected to begin in 2026. His television work will not follow until after he completes his contractual obligations to Paramount in 2028. That timeline means this is not an immediate clean break, nor does it erase the importance of the worlds Sheridan is still tied to at Paramount.
For video game audiences, the timing also places an unusual spotlight on a project still headed in a different direction: Sheridan has written the script for Paramount’s upcoming Call of Duty movie. His career is therefore set to touch two major film tracks at once—one representing a return to the kind of screenwriting that established his reputation, and another involving one of gaming’s largest and most recognizable series.
A film-first pitch for a television powerhouse
Langley said she began pursuing Sheridan after seeing an opportunity amid disruption and instability at Paramount. She did not explicitly identify a particular corporate development. The public context described around the negotiations included a prolonged merger process involving Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros., with David Ellison later prevailing over Netflix in the contest for Warner Bros.
It is important to separate what is known from what is inferred here. Langley directly described seeing a competitive opportunity and directly identified film as the starting point of her discussions with Sheridan. The suggestion that the broader corporate dealmaking at Paramount created that opening is interpretation of the surrounding circumstances, rather than a specific event Langley named.
Her explanation nevertheless gives the move a clearer strategic shape. Rather than trying to immediately dislodge Sheridan from the television machine he had built, NBCUniversal could approach him through a lane where his Paramount deal was less restrictive. That was a route back toward the work that first drew broad attention to him as a writer.
Before becoming synonymous with modern TV westerns and franchise expansion, Sheridan wrote the films Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River. His NBCUniversal agreement puts that earlier screenwriting identity at the center of the next phase. It does not mean television has ceased to matter; the 2028 timetable makes plain that it remains governed by the prior agreement for years to come. But it does mean feature-film development will be the first tangible sign of the new relationship.
Why the Call of Duty movie is a notable part of the picture
Sheridan writing Paramount’s forthcoming Call of Duty movie is a particularly interesting wrinkle because the franchise brings different expectations than an original screenplay or a television drama. A game adaptation must translate a familiar interactive brand into a fixed, non-interactive story. Players can have distinct memories of campaigns, multiplayer eras, settings, characters and modes, but a film has to select one dramatic point of view and one forward path.
The supplied details do not identify the movie’s story, cast, release date, director, game-era inspiration or production status. Those absences are worth keeping in view. Sheridan’s involvement confirms the screenwriter attached to the project, not the creative shape of the finished film.
Still, his writing history helps explain why the assignment attracts attention. His credited film work includes tense, grounded crime and frontier dramas, while his television slate has shown an ability to construct durable worlds and multiple connected series. Neither credential tells audiences exactly what a Call of Duty film will be, and it would be premature to treat it as confirmation of a particular tone. It does establish that the project has a writer with experience in both feature scripts and large-scale serialized storytelling.
The move also arrives at a moment when game properties are an increasingly prominent part of the wider screen business. That alone does not make any adaptation a guaranteed fit, and name recognition cannot solve the difficult work of turning a playable series into a coherent film. What Sheridan’s involvement signals is that Paramount has attached a writer whose next professional chapter will also be closely watched as he starts film work with NBCUniversal.
For another example of how recognizable game properties continue to circulate through major film development, see our coverage of the reported G.I. Joe film plans centered on Duke. The projects are separate, but both show the continuing effort to shape game-adjacent and toy-and-game brands into standalone movie propositions rather than simply relying on a familiar logo.
What remains with Paramount through 2028
Sheridan’s television footprint at Paramount is extensive. Yellowstone, which began in 2018, grew into a broader universe that includes 1923, The Madison, and Dutton Ranch. He is also behind Lioness, Marshals, Landman, and Mayor of Kingstown.
That list helps put the delayed TV portion of the NBCUniversal deal in perspective. The wait until 2028 is not merely a calendar detail. It recognizes that Sheridan’s existing television responsibilities are intertwined with multiple active or expanding Paramount properties. The new deal’s structure allows the companies’ relationship to his work to overlap in a limited, defined way: NBCUniversal can begin in film while Paramount retains the TV commitments covered by its earlier contract.
For viewers, this means the headline should not be read as an instant platform migration for every Sheridan-associated series. The confirmed timetable says the opposite. Paramount remains the home of his television obligations until they are fulfilled, while NBCUniversal’s first expected Sheridan work comes from the movie side starting in 2026.
Sicario 3 adds another feature-film thread
Call of Duty is not the only Sheridan-written Paramount feature on the horizon. He has also written Sicario 3. Together, the two projects underline the point Langley made about his film potential: even after years in which his television work commanded significant attention, Sheridan is already returning to the screenplay format through major Paramount projects.
There is a practical difference between knowing a writer has completed scripts and knowing when, or in what final form, audiences will see those movies. The available information identifies Sheridan as the writer of both upcoming films. It does not establish their release plans or provide further production specifics. That makes the safest reading straightforward: the scripts are part of his near-term film work, not evidence that either project has reached a particular stage beyond what has been stated.
As for NBCUniversal, the future value of the deal will depend on projects that have not been announced in the provided details. No titles, genres, directors, stars, or release strategies have been specified for Sheridan’s eventual film slate there. The key confirmed development is the arrangement’s sequencing and the rationale offered for how it came together.
The business lesson: rights and timing can matter as much as a headline name
This story is a useful reminder that creative deals are often built around the exact boundaries of pre-existing contracts. Sheridan’s public association with Paramount television could make a simplistic “rival hires major TV creator” narrative seem obvious. Langley’s comments point to something more precise: NBCUniversal began where the contractual terrain was more open, with films.
That distinction has consequences for anyone watching where franchises, sequels and adaptations may land. A creator can be deeply associated with one studio or platform while retaining a separate path for another medium. Television, theatrical film, streaming films, first-look rights and development commitments can all be structured differently. In Sheridan’s case, the expected 2026 film start and 2028 TV transition provide a concrete illustration of that split.
For now, the clearest near-term takeaway is not a newly revealed NBCUniversal slate. It is Sheridan’s dual-track moment: he is set to begin his NBCUniversal film relationship while continuing to satisfy Paramount’s television commitments, and Paramount still has two Sheridan scripts in its future-film pipeline—Call of Duty and Sicario 3. The path from a studio deal to a finished movie is rarely simple, but the deal’s first move was deliberately simple: start with film.
