A few months back, it was announced that Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures were set to co-finance Christopher Nolan’s latest film, “Interstellar,” which was an odd move considering both studios are rivals. Well, Hollywood networking pays off because The Hollywood Reporter reveals what Warner Bros. had to give up in order to get into bed with Nolan again. In order to secure co-financing rights, Warners has passed Paramount the rights to co-finance the next installment of the “Friday the 13th” franchise, as well as the next “South Park” film.
It’s an interesting series of events, but not entirely unexpected considering Warner Bros.’ lucrative partnership with Nolan in the past — putting out Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Inception.” With that being said, it’s not as if Warners was actively doing anything with either franchise with which they secured the Nolan deal. While the 2009 reboot of the “Friday the 13th” franchise grossed a respectable $91 million in theaters, that was in 2009 and there hasn’t been movement since. Furthermore, it’s been over ten years since the Comedy Central series, “South Park,” busted out with their debut film, “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.” Since then, the creators of the show, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have found huge success on Broadway with their musical “The Book of Mormon,” itself poised to be filmed for the big screen.
The Hollywood Reporter reveals the stagnation in both franchises is due to the entanglements between Paramount and Warner Bros. over rights for both the above properties, but is it too late for sequels, at all? It certainly looks like this deal will make it a bit more possible for it happen, BUT Paramount only has the rights for both franchises for five years so they’ll have to move fast. But we’ll bet phone calls and conference room meetings are already happening.
Either way, Warner Bros. and Paramount are set to have an epic blockbuster on their hands when “Interstellar” hits theaters November 7th, 2014.
