South Park is now in the midst of Season 27 of the animated series, and the creators behind it all debunked any talk of a potential live-action version by explaining why it wouldn’t work. South Park has had a lot to celebrate this Summer as the series returned with one of the most watched episodes in years. The controversial premiere led fans to wonder what could be on the way next, and even surprised with a live-action segment towards the end. But while live-action (and synthetic media) will be used for a joke, it’s not something fans will see with a full live-action adaptation of South Park anytime soon.
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Speaking during the Comedy Central panel during San Diego Comic Con 2025 last month, South Park series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were asked about whether or not fans would see a live-action version of the series someday. To which Parker immediately answered, “We’ve never been approached.” It’s a surprise considering how popular of a franchise South Park has become over the decades, but the creators also explained that a live-action version of the series would be hard to make funny in the same way.
South Park Creators Debunk Live-Action Talks
“There’s been a couple of people online who’ve done A.I. versions of stuff…a couple of them are pretty funny,” Stone explained. “I never thought that would work. Seeing what looks like a real, you know, fat Cartman run around and call people names. It was pretty funny actually, but we’ve never done it seriously. That’s just something I’ve seen.” But Parker got to the root of the issue at hand as he questioned, “I don’t know if watching a little kid get hit by a bus and dying would be funny every week.”
That’s ultimately what the issue with making a full live-action series for South Park would be. The animated series can get away with its wild ideas simply because it’s animated. Parker and Stone have played around with live-action takes on the franchise before through re-enactment parodies featuring the boys as adults, and as a final gag for an episode where Stan was stuck in a twisted maze of virtual realities. It makes for a fun thing to see briefly, but probably would lose its charm in a much fuller take on the idea.
What’s Next for South Park?
Although Parker and Stone also joked that they had no idea what they were going to do for the next episode of the series, South Park Season 27 is back on track for its next episode to hit on August 6th. This came with the reveal of a surprising week long delay, and that does make sense if the two creators needed more time to figure out what they were actually going to do. They don’t do too much planning for any given episode ahead of time, and even lied with a trailer filled with made up clips for the new season.
Even as the duo look ahead towards the rest of the season, South Park has locked down its future with Paramount. Following the signing of a massive $1.5 billion USD deal for the licensing rights, South Park will be developing ten episodes a year across a five year span. If you wanted to check out its classic episodes along with new episodes right after they premiere, you can find the series streaming with Paramount+.
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