How did South Park become so popular?

Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971 in Houston, Texas) and Randolph Severn “Trey” Parker III (born October 19, 1969 in Conifer, Colorado) met in film school at the University of Colorado in 1992.

Per Entertainment Weekly, the idea for the creative duo’s hit show South Park came while messing around as they worked on films in university. “We would always talk like these little kids and make each other laugh. So we had a year of doing little skits with the voices before we shot anything,” Parker explained.

Their first skit, The Spirit of Christmas aka Jesus vs Frosty, was a massive hit on campus. With US$1,200 in borrowed funds, per The Washington Post, the pair moved to Los Angeles, hoping to develop the idea further. The pair soon got a deal with Comedy Central for South Park.

Years later, as the show’s popularity grew, Parker and Stone would strike several multimillion-dollar deals, including nine-figure deals for streaming rights.

In 2015, AV Club reported that streaming service Hulu paid a then-record US$192 million for the right to stream every episode of the show that’s been produced. Four years later, Variety reported Stone and Parker signed a US$550 million deal to put the show on the HBO Max streaming platform.

A year into that deal, the pair signed an agreement of more than US$900 million with ViacomCBS to create new South Park episodes and films for Paramount+, reported Bloomberg. The deal ended up more lucrative for the pair because, as reported by The New York Times, Parker and Stone negotiated a lucrative 50/50 split on all digital revenue – forever.

The deals sparked a legal battle between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount over exclusivity, reported CNN.

In 2021, the South Park catalogue was, according to Bloomberg, estimated to be worth close to US$1 billion.

Film and theatre ventures

Not satisfied with dominating TV, Parker and Stone took their brand of comedy to theatre in 2011 with the Broadway debut of The Book of Mormon.

“It was a f***ing good idea,” Stone told The Standard UK of the project, which follows the adventures of religious missionaries preaching in a remote Ugandan village.

In 2013, Forbes estimated that the musical made Parker and Stone around US$19 million a month from shows. They continue to make rich lists, mainly because of their 2021 Paramount deal, which saw them rake in US$935 million over six years, reports Forbes.

The multimillion-dollar Casa Bonita restaurant purchase

Animation blurred into real life when the pair bought the Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver that is featured on South Park, reported Business Insider.

“It just feels natural,” Parker said, per The Hollywood Reporter.

The Mexican-themed restaurant cost the pair over US$40 million to restore and renovate, per The New York Times. However, it was embroiled in controversy in 2023 when tipping was abolished and work hours were disputed, reported Business Insider.

Splurging big on luxury properties

The pair have an impressive property portfolio.

Parker owns a Japanese-inspired hilltop ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, reported Architectural Digest. He also bought a luxury home in California for US$4.3 million, only to sell it a few years later for US$5.5 million, reported Forbes.

Parker also bought a seven-bedroom mansion in Los Angeles for just under US$14 million in 2013, reported Business Insider, and returned to the area in 2019 to buy another US$6.2 million home, according to the LA Times.

Parker’s partner in (cartoon) crime also had a home in Venice, California, which was selling for around US$6.5 million, per The Hollywood Reporter in 2023. The house reportedly has three bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, a massive garage, a chef’s kitchen, dining area and two living areas.

Deepfakes, films and video games

Stone told Bloomberg the pair’s aforementioned massive US$900 million deal would go into investments, including deepfake technology and films.

“We’ve been rich for a long time. We have nice houses and cars. I’m not going to buy a new watch. We’re a media company. We use the proceeds from this to invest,” he said.

“We have a South Park 3D video game, release date unknown. We’re doing deepfakes. We have a studio with a dozen people who are deepfake artists. We’re working on a little more of this deepfake movie we’re trying to piece together.”

According to Variety, the pair received US$20 million in funding for their deepfake visual effects studio. Stone also announced they are working on a horror and a musical.

GQ reported the pair are working with musical superstar Kendrick Lamar, who will produce a live-action comedy film.

Marijuana business, Tegridy Weed

In the same interview with Bloomberg, Stone revealed that the pair are working on developing a marijuana business, taking inspiration from Tegridy Farms featured in their cartoon series.

“I think we’re really for the first time going to bring Tegridy Weed into real life,” Stone said.