With simply hours to spare earlier than South Park‘s Season 27 premiere tonight, July 23, the present’s future has been locked in for the subsequent 5 years. Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have signed a brand new five-year total cope with Paramount World by means of their firm Park County.
Moreover, South Park Digital Studios, the three way partnership behind the animated hit co-owned by Paramount and Park County, has entered into an unique five-year license cope with Paramount+, reportedly price $1.5B.
The pacts cowl 50 new episodes over 5 seasons and all 26 earlier seasons of South Park, which is able to proceed on Comedy Central and be out there on Paramount+. That features Paramount+ turning into the U.S. streaming residence for the South Park library and all new episodes, kicking off with Season 27 whose episodes shall be out there on Paramount+ the day after their Comedy Central premiere. The present additionally will return to Paramount+ internationally after being eliminated amid contractual disputes with Parker and Stone that stretched past the earlier licensing settlement’s expiration date.
The South Park library, which had been unique to HBO Max within the U.S. for the previous 5 years, shall be out there on Paramount+ domestically and internationally this afternoon, July 23, because it will get phased out on the Warner Bros. Discovery streamer. There had been talks for the present to proceed on HBO Max on a non-exclusive foundation, which in the end didn’t pan out.
“Matt and Trey are singular, artistic forces whose fearless humor and boundary pushing storytelling have made South Park one of the crucial beloved and enduring sequence ever — extra common at the moment than at any level in its historical past, and one of the crucial helpful TV franchises on the earth,” Chris McCarthy, Co-CEO of Paramount World and President of Showtime/MTV Leisure, mentioned. “They’re distinctive skills and trusted companions – we’re thrilled that Comedy Central and now Paramount+ globally would be the residence to South Park for years to return and our due to the Skydance group for his or her important partnership in making this occur.”
The offers mark an finish to prolonged negotiations between Paramount and the South Park creators which grew to become acrimonious amid Paramount’s pending acquisition by Skydance, leading to Parker and Stone threatening authorized motion towards Paramount’s incoming proprietor and president Jeff Shell alleging interference within the streaming rights negotiations, together with a five-year licensing time period vs. a 10-year one favored by the duo who additionally reportedly had been looking for a 10-year extension to their total deal.
The brand new total pact replaces Parker and Stone’s present $900 million total settlement signed in 2021, which was to maintain South Park on Comedy Central with new episodes by means of 2027. The extension aligns the duo’s total cope with the brand new South Park streaming pact.
Parker and Stone, who didn’t mince phrases in the course of the standoff that pushed South Park‘s Season 27 premiere from July 9 to July 23, saying earlier this month that “this merger is a sh*tshow and is f*cking up South Park,” had been gracious and diplomatic of their feedback on the brand new offers.
“Trey and I and the entire South Park crew are grateful for this extension and this deal. We wish to thank Chris McCarthy and Keyes Hill-Edgar for years of nice partnership and are wanting ahead to persevering with to make South Park for the subsequent 5 years,” mentioned Stone, referencing Hill-Edgar, who’s COO of Showtime/MTV Leisure.
Added Parker, “We’re grateful for this chance and deeply honored by the belief positioned in us. That is about greater than a contract — it’s about our dedication to this group, our teammates, and our followers. We’re targeted on constructing one thing particular and doing no matter it takes to carry championships to this metropolis.”
South Park launched on Comedy Central on August 13, 1997. Parker, Stone, Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II are the chief producers. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell, and Vernon Chatman are producers. Christopher Brion is the artistic director of South Park Digital Studios.
