South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have signed a $900 million (£646 million) deal with US media organisation Viacom CBS that will run to the end of 2027.
The deal will see the pair make new episodes of the show for the Comedy Central network, in addition to several spinoff films for Viacom’s Paramount+ streaming service. The six year agreement will result in the production of six seasons of the South Park show as well as 14 movies.
The first project to be created as part of the deal will be a South Park film that is scheduled for release later in 2021.
Chris McCarthy, President of MTV Entertainment Group and Chief Content Officer of Adult Entertainment at Paramount+, said: ‘Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humour 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’.
In response to news of the announcement, Stone and Parker comically hinted that the deal would last for longer than the agreed-upon duration, saying that ‘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’.
South Park first debuted in 1997 as an animated sitcom that focuses on the lives of four friends: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick. The show has since become infamous as a result of its dark and controversial humour and subject matter that satirises a range of adult topics, in addition to its frequent use of strong language.
More than 300 episodes of South Park have been aired since its debut, while a film was released in 1999. Several video game adaptations of the show have also been released.
The multi-million dollar deal struck by Viacom for South Park marks another notable event in the growing battle for global streaming dominance in the entertainment industry. Amazon recently acquired the historical MGM Studios for $8.45 billion, gaining access to a back catalogue of almost 100 years of film, while Netflix recently announced that it would add mobile gaming to its service to diversify the content it offers.
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