Trey Parker and Matt Stone are keeping their longtime animated series “South Park” going through at least 2027, ViacomCBS has announced. The duo has struck a deal with Comedy Central’s parent comedy that renews “South Park” through Season 30, plus Parker and Stone have agreed to develop 14 original “South Park” movies that will debut exclusively on Paramount+.
“Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humor to skewer the absurdities of our culture and we are excited to expand and deepen our long relationship with them to help fuel Paramount+ and Comedy Central,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of MTV Entertainment and CCO/Adult Animation of Paramount+ in a statement. “Franchising marquee content like South Park and developing new IP with tremendous talent like Matt and Trey, is at the heart of our strategy to continue growing Paramount+.”
Parker and Stone issued their own statement that reads: “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, Chris (McCarthy), Nina (Diaz), Keyes (Hill-Edgar), and Tanya (Giles) 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.”
The deal to create 14 original “South Park” movies is a strategic one for ViacomCBS, as the company’s new streamer Paramount+ does not have “South Park” offerings at this time. HBO Max licensed the “South Park” library, including the 1999 movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” before its launch in a deal worth a reported $500 million. By teaming up with Parker and Stone for new “South Park” movies, ViacomCBS gets to have some new “South Park” offerings on Paramount+. The first two new “South Park” films will debut this year.
“South Park” has been on the air since its pilot episode debuted August 13, 1997. The show currently has 23 seasons under its belt. While Parker and Stone took a break from the usual development of the show during the pandemic, the creators did release two pandemic specials in September 2020 and March 2021, respectively. A new season of the show will launch in 2022.
Source: Read Full Article