The first of the 27th season of Southern park Later, this month is seriously in the middle of the argument between the creators of the Trey Parker and Matt Stone series, Paramount Global and the owner of the Skydance Studio, The Hollywood Reporter learned.
At the heart of the dispute: a new global agreement of $ 3 billion over 10 years for Parker and Stone which would double the valuation of the current agreement which expires in 2027, according to people familiar with the situation. County Park, the Southern park The peer entertainment company, believes that it has struck a basic framework with paramount overall on an agreement. “I think that the paramount pre-acquisition was interested in a wider range of possibilities than what would have been approved by Skydance and Redbird,” said an initiate close to negotiations.
But Skydance, who maintains that he has approval rights on contracts, because he continues the regulatory approval of his merger with Paramount, has other plans. The duration of the proposed agreement has become a point of collision in negotiations, the Skydance refusing an extension beyond an additional five years in the midst of a rapid media environment in which it favors cash reserves.
“There is no resolution at the moment, but all those involved recognize the need for a quick and positive resolution,” said a spokesperson for Park on Monday. Skydance and Paramount refused to comment. A Skydance representative had already said THR that “under the terms of the transaction agreement, Skydance has the right to approve material contracts”.
It is more and more likely that the dispute will be found in court. Parker and Stone invited Bryan Freedman, an eminent Bulldog lawyer and negotiator known for his aggressive legal mangoes, to set up what could be a trial accusing the Skydance regime – including CEO David Ellison and Jeff Shell, the director of the capital Redbird who will be the president of the new paramount if the merger is green – contractual. The alternative implies a battle of public relations in which Skydance could see its name splashed on the headlines as another example of entertainment fusion that has become sour.
The potential delay of the first in season 27, which was already pushed back two weeks later as scheduled for July 23, surfaced as the most visible example of the damage caused by the delay in the approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger. The relationship between Parker and Stone, among the most wanted creative duos in Hollywood, and Skydance is in question, as is the future of the program after more than 28 years and 300 episodes.
“This fusion is shit and she fucks Southern park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope that fans will be able to see them in one way or another ” wrote Parker and Stone in an article on social networks on July 2.
Southern park Belongs to Paramount through a Co -Breakage Parker and Stone operated with the company called South Park Digital Studios, which is governed by a board of directors of five members who includes partners of paramount affiliation comedy. The series is produced by the County of Park.
Park County has an extraordinarily unusual agreement, dating from 2007, which gives the company around 50% of streaming income through joint venture. Southern park was a behemoth on linear television and DVD when the streaming video was still emerging. Park County began to broadcast episodes on a dedicated website with an advertising support, although premium subscription services later like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and, of course, Paramount +, would change the way the streaming videos have been monetized dramatically.
Streaming transactions for the program expired on June 30, forcing an extension of a national agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to keep it on HBO Max for the moment. Last week, the international license of Paramount + to broadcast episodes of the longtime animated series Expired, which led the streamer drawing the series of its global service.
Paramount and the County of Park both take a hard position in the negotiations. When they resumed discussions recently, Kevin Morris, a lawyer from the County of Park, refused to move a Decadelong agreement worth at least $ 3 billion. In recent years, Morris has become a national renowned figure for his legal and financial support for several years in Hunter Biden.
Chris McCarthy de Paramount, who runs the company with two other co-PDGs, oversees the Streaming and TV programming side of the studio and Coo Keyes Hill-Edgar negotiates agreements.
The Paramount-Skydance Agreement was largely considered because of its own political dimension involving President Donald Trump and a trial against 60 minutes On an interview with Kamala Harris.
A possible factor in negotiations: a loan of $ 800 million, which is currently purchased from buyers, which the County of Park took in 2023 within the capital of the Investment The Carlyle Group. Parker and Stone could be in a hurry for species to reimburse around $ 80 million in interest per year, according to a well -informed person of the arrangement, who noted that Paramount could be open to pay more than $ 150 million per year in a new agreement but not for ten years.
According to Skydance’s thought, the interim operating agreement offers the company the right to approve – and to deny – all important contracts. Park county argued that Skydance is prevented from taking control and issuing directives until the official merger closes. A legal battle is being prepared.
“We demand by the present that you, Redbird and Skydance immediately cease your interference,” said the letter from the county of Park to Shell sent on June 21. “If these activities continue, we will have no choice but to act to protect our rights and pay for all the obligations that we could have to the public.”
