The Stallone Double Feature: From the Paramount+ Heights of Tulsa King to the Starz Deep-Dive of Alarum
As the dust settles on the explosive, high-stakes finale of Taylor Sheridan’s spy thriller series Lioness—which saw Zoe Saldaña’s Joe McNamara and her elite team of female operatives navigate their most perilous assignment to date—television enthusiasts are once again looking toward the horizon for their next major streaming obsession. Historically speaking, if a series bears Taylor Sheridan’s creative footprint, it occupies prime real estate at the top of the Paramount+ streaming charts.
While the satirical, newly renamed adult animated favorite South America (formerly South Park) currently holds the coveted number-one spot on the platform, that landscape is primed for a dramatic upheaval. In a matter of weeks, one of the undisputed heavyweights of modern prestige television will make its triumphant return. On October 16, Sylvester Stallone is back as Dwight "The General" Manfredi for the fourth season of Tulsa King, one of Sheridan’s most indulgent and widely consumed crime dramas.
Yet, for fans eager for a Stallone fix who find themselves caught in the two-week waiting period before Tulsa King Season 4 drops, premium network Starz has quietly provided an alternative. The network has introduced the 2025 action thriller Alarum—starring Stallone alongside Scott Eastwood and Mike Colter—into its rotating library of monthly arrivals. Though Alarum came and went from the public consciousness with minimal fanfare and holds a notorious 0% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, its arrival on streaming offers a fascinating case study in commercial versus critical reception.
Main Facts: The Stallone Streaming Paradox
The contrast between Sylvester Stallone’s television success and his recent cinematic misfires highlights the complex nature of modern stardom in the streaming era.
- The Television Phenomenon (Tulsa King Season 4): Premiering on October 16, the fourth season of Tulsa King finds Dwight "The General" Manfredi fighting tooth and nail to legitimize his burgeoning criminal empire. This season introduces fresh obstacles, including deeply entrenched, corrupt politicians and formidable new adversaries. The cast expands with exciting new series regulars, featuring Flula Borg (The Rookie) as a tech billionaire and acclaimed actress Gretchen Mol (Boardwalk Empire), alongside returning fan-favorite cast members.
- The Cinematic Outlier (Alarum): Released theatrically on January 17, 2025, directed by Michael Polish and written by Alexander Vesha, Alarum is a 95-minute action thriller starring Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, and Mike Colter. Despite its notable cast, the film failed to capture critical or commercial momentum, eventually landing a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
- The Streaming Pivot: While Tulsa King continues to dominate Paramount+ viewership metrics as a flagship title for Taylor Sheridan’s expansive television empire, Alarum has found a second life on Starz, offering curious viewers, completionists, and fans of zero-percent cinematic curiosities a chance to evaluate the film for themselves.
Chronology of Events: From Theatrical Flop to Streaming Discovery
To understand how Sylvester Stallone’s career finds itself straddling these two drastically different projects, it is helpful to trace the timeline of his recent professional output.
Phase 1: The Cinematic Release of Alarum (Early 2025)
In January 2025, Alarum was released to the public with high hopes, given its star-studded marquee featuring action legend Sylvester Stallone alongside rising genre fixtures Scott Eastwood and Mike Colter. Directed by Michael Polish, the film was designed as a gritty, high-octane thriller. However, it quickly ran into severe critical headwinds upon arrival. Reviewers cited pacing issues, an over-reliance on genre tropes, and an inability to maximize the talents of its seasoned ensemble.
Phase 2: The Critical Post-Mortem (2025)
As reviews rolled in, Alarum earned a rare and dubious distinction: a 0% average score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics across various outlets pulled apart the narrative structure, pointing out that the premise—while theoretically engaging—buckled under the weight of uneven execution and narrative confusion.
Phase 3: The Television Triumph of Lioness and the Wait for Tulsa King (Late 2026)
Shifting forward to late 2026, Taylor Sheridan’s television ecosystem continues to dictate cultural conversations. Following the adrenaline-fueled conclusion of Lioness‘s latest season, audiences began searching for their next dose of gritty, creator-driven drama. With Tulsa King Season 4 locked in for an October 16 release, the anticipation surrounding Dwight Manfredi’s next chapter reached a fever pitch.
Phase 4: Starz Resurrects Alarum (October 2026)
Capitalizing on the enduring star power of Sylvester Stallone ahead of his high-profile television return, Starz added Alarum to its content library for October. This timing creates a peculiar double-exposure for Stallone fans: they can either anticipate his masterclass in mob-boss charisma on Paramount+ or dive into his critically maligned cinematic experiment on Starz.
Supporting Data and Production Overview
A closer look at the production metrics and details of Alarum reveals the framework behind the film that critics found so divisive:
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Alarum |
| Release Date | January 17, 2025 |
| Runtime | 95 Minutes |
| Director | Michael Polish |
| Writer | Alexander Vesha |
| Key Cast | Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Mike Colter |
| Current Platform | Starz |
| Critical Standing | 0% on Rotten Tomatoes |
In contrast, Tulsa King represents the pinnacle of Taylor Sheridan’s production model—blending high-budget serialized storytelling, character-driven mob drama, and charismatic lead performances that regularly translate into record-breaking streaming numbers for Paramount+.
Critical Responses: What Went Wrong with Alarum?
While Sylvester Stallone remains one of the most bankable and beloved action heroes in cinematic history, not every project he touches achieves gold. The catastrophic critical response to Alarum has been a frequent subject of analysis among film critics and pop culture commentators alike.
Writing for Collider, critic Jeff Ewing awarded the film a stark 3 out of 10 in his review, cutting straight to the heart of its narrative failures. Ewing described the plot as "needlessly convoluted," noting that the film’s "action sequences, locations, and twists" were executed with a frustrating lack of precision. Furthermore, Ewing argued that the star-studded ensemble was "largely wasted" due to a weak foundational script:
"Even committed performances can’t quite move the needle when the concept of the scene is undercooked… wasting a talented cast and what could be an engaging premise for no comprehensible reason at all."
The consensus among reviewers was that despite the star power of Stallone, Eastwood, and Colter, the film suffered from an identity crisis—failing to decide whether it wanted to be a grounded espionage thriller or an over-the-top B-movie, ultimately landing in an unsatisfying middle ground.
Industry Implications: Navigating the Streaming Era
The dual presence of Stallone on both Paramount+ and Starz this October underscores a broader shift in the entertainment industry regarding how older action properties and modern television vehicles are consumed.
- The Power of the Showrunner Economy: Taylor Sheridan’s ability to turn nearly every television project into a streaming juggernaut—ranging from the Yellowstone universe to Tulsa King and Lioness—proves that audiences crave serialized, creator-branded storytelling. Tulsa King succeeds because Dwight Manfredi is given room to breathe, develop, and interact with a rich supporting cast over multiple seasons.
- The Re-Evaluation of Cinematic Flops: Streaming platforms like Starz play a crucial role in giving poorly received theatrical films a second act. While a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score might deter theatergoers, it often sparks morbid curiosity among home-viewing audiences. In the age of content saturation, even a critically panned film can find an audience looking for passive weekend entertainment or completionists tracing an icon’s filmography.
- Stallone’s Dual Legacy: Ultimately, Sylvester Stallone’s career demonstrates the duality of modern acting legends. On television, he commands the screen with the calibrated confidence of an elder statesman of crime drama. On the silver screen, experimental actioners like Alarum serve as reminders that even the most enduring icons are beholden to the scripts and production conditions surrounding them.
As viewers count down the days until October 16 and the return of Tulsa King Season 4, the availability of Alarum on Starz provides a fascinating checkpoint. Whether fans choose to celebrate Stallone at his absolute best through Taylor Sheridan’s visionary streaming empire or examine him at his most confounding via Alarum, the enduring appeal of the Hollywood legend remains untouched.
