Following up on the $900 million content deal ViacomCBS’ MTV Entertainment Studio secured with the creators in August, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are getting into gear for their massive South Park franchise expansion. The first stage will see two movies drop on Paramount+ before the end of this year, ahead of the show’s return to Comedy Central in early 2022 (which also marks the 25th anniversary of cable’s longest-running scripted series).
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it was revealed that the first movie will be titled South Park: Post Covid and is set to premiere exclusively on the Paramount+ platform on November 25. Parker vaguely sketches out the plot as “the boys dealing with a post-COVID world. They’re just trying to get back to normal.” (Much like the production team on their show, which has yet to return to their studio in Marina del Rey, the co-creator notes.)
The second film under the deal is slated to arrive in December. Parker and Stone told THR that while the initial announcement about the deal said that Paramount+ will get 14 original South Park “movies,” the productions will not be feature-film length. “[ViacomCBS] are the ones who said we are giving them 14 movies in seven years,” Parker noted. “All I can say is for me, personally, I am 52 years old, I have made three movies in my life. So you do the math.”
Stone added, “We’re trying to make what’s on Paramount+ different from anywhere else, so hourlong made-for-TV movies is where our head is at … They will be big, but they are not quite movie scale.” The producers plan to deliver two movies a year under the deal, which also extended the South Park series through to 2027 for Comedy Central.
The South ParQ Vaccination Special ranked as the #1 cable telecast of 2021 with nearly 3.5 million total viewers across the night, and The Pandemic Special was cable’s #1 scripted telecast of 2020. The latter also earned South Park its 19th Emmy nomination (Outstanding Animated Program). The series has earned five Emmy Awards to date and a George Foster Peabody Award.
South Park launched on August 13, 1997. The series is created by Parker and Stone, who also executive produce alongside Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Chris Brion is the creative director of South Park Digital Studios.
