South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have aigned a deal that will extend the popular Comwdy Central animated series another six seasons. Additionally the pair will create 14 South Park made-for-streaming movies that will be available exclusively on the Paramount+ steaming service. The first two of these films are expected to premier on the service before the end of the year.
The deal is reportedly worth $900 million and will keep the pair under the ViacomCBS roof for the next six years. The deal also gives Paramount+ some South Park content after HBOMax locked up the streaming rights to a number of the show’s earlier seasons.
In a statement, Parker and Stone said –
Comedy Central has been our home for 25 years and we’re really happy that they’ve made a commitment to us for the next 75 years. When we came to ViacomCBS with a different way to produce the show during the pandemic, [they] were immediately supportive and enabled us to try something new that turned out to be really well received. We can’t wait to get back to doing traditional South Park episodes but now we can also try out new formats. It’s great to have partners who will always take a chance with us.
While I have grown somewhat disenchanted with South Park over the last few seasons thanks to its “all sides suck” attitude, I am still interested in what these made-for-streaming movies will be about. Parker amd Stone’s 1999 theatrical film South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut was a remarkable piece of satire. While I don’t expect that the Paramount+ films will match that same level that the theatrical film hit, I am thinking that new format will offer new creative challenges that could energize them in a new and exciting way.
