Tulsa Kingseason 1 showrunner Terence Winter is no stranger to tales of fictional Mafiosos, but his next project will see him team with the director of theEqualizermovies on a true-life mob drama. Originally joining the writing room ofThe Sopranosin season 2 of HBO’s hit crime drama, Winter would also go on to create theprohibition era dramaBoardwalk Empire, as well as pen Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed biopicThe Wolf of Wall Street, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination.
While Winter opted to step down as showrunner onTulsa Kingseason 2, he still remains closely involved with the show as both a writer and executive producer.
Per a new report fromVariety,Winter has now been tapped to write anew miniseries for FX based on the life of notorious New York mobster, Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano. Set to bedirected byThe Equalizer’sAntoine Fuqua, with whom Winter will also executive produce the series, the show will be produced by FX Studios and Kapital Entertainment. At this stage, FX has declined to officially comment on the move.
What Terrence Winter’s Jump To True Crime Means For The Former Tulsa King Showrunner
Winter Is Well Acquainted With Telling Stories From The Criminal Underworld
Having honed his craft on some of television’s best known crime dramas,Winter seems like a natural choice to help lead the new Sammy the Bull seriesin collaboration with Fuqua. Swapping the likes of Tony Soprano and Enoch “Nucky” Thompson forSylvester Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi, he is more than acquainted with telling stories centered on the outrageous misdeeds and intricate machinations of the criminal underworld.
20 Best Documentaries About The American Mafia
Mob stories have mostly been told through some of the best gangster movies. However, documentaries often do a good job of portraying the mafia too.
However, his new project will still mark a significant departure from his previous shows, as it prepares to dig into the life of one of the New York mob’s best-known figures. A key player in the eventual prosecution of Gambino Family boss John Gotti in the early 1990s, Gravano would go on to become known as one of thehighest-ranking Mafia members to ever cooperate with the US Government. Following his own release from prison in 2020, Gravano would later come to reveal many of his former criminal exploits via his own podcast series,Our Thing.
Our Take On FX’s Sammy The Bull TV Show
FX’s New Creative Pairing Could Deliver A Potential Hit
Audiences have long been fascinated by true-crime stories, and the overwhelming success of shows like Netflix’sMonsteranthology series suggests that fascination is far from being exhausted. With Gravano’s story already proving one of the most compelling threads explored in2023’sGet Gottidocumentary series, FX will likely generate considerable interest in this latest offering.
Moreover, with Winter’s proven aptitude for crafting tales of underworld figures, combined with Fuqua’s compelling visual style, there is every reason for true-crime fans to be excited about what they will each bring to the table. While information regarding the finer details about this new Mafia tale from the formerTulsa Kingshowrunner remains scant, this news likely points to another potential hit for FX.
Tulsa King
Cast
Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, who, after 25 years in prison, is exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, by his boss. Faced with the possibility of betrayal, he assembles a crew of unlikely characters to establish a criminal empire in unfamiliar territory.
The Equalizer
The Equalizer is a crime-focused action-thriller franchise initially created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. The franchise began with the 1985 series that followed Robert McCall, a retired intelligence agent who uses his deadly and varied skillset to help those that society cannot save. The film franchise has stood out as the most iconic, with Denzel Washington in the role of the new Robert McCall, with a reboot television series starring Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall.
