Stone & Parker Form Production Studio; MORMON Movie on the Horizon?

The New York Times has reported that SOUTH PARK and BOOK OF MORMON creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have formed Important Studios, their own individual Production Company which they plan to announce tomorrow.

The company - valued at approximately $300 million - will reportedly now have the revenue, thanks to SOUTH PARK and MORMON, to put television, movie, and theater projects into production. Included in these, according to The Times, is a film adaptation of THE BOOK OF MORMON.

"Having worked with several different studios over the years," the two write in the release coming tomorrow, "we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves."

And thanks to THE BOOK OF MORMON's monster success, it appears they can now do just about whatever they wish with Important. The studio will allow them more control over all creative, production, and distribution aspects of a project.

Though Parker and Stone now have an easier means in bringing MORMON to the big screen, it may not be for awhile. In September of 2012, Parker told Entertainment Weekly, "Hopefully it will have a big run and a big tour and then we can do the movie in several years."

For now, the pair are letting MORMON entertain theater-goers - through two U.S. tours, one playing a sit-down run in Chicago - and shortly, a production playing in London's West End.

THE BOOK OF MORMON features book, music and lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone are the four-time Emmy Award-winning creators of the landmark animated series, "South Park." Tony Award-winner Lopez is co-creator of the long-running hit musical comedy, Avenue Q. The musical is choreographed by Tony Award-winner Casey Nicholaw (Monty Python's Spamalot, The Drowsy Chaperone) and is directed by Nicholaw and Parker.

THE BOOK OF MORMON is the winner of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score (Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone), Best Book (Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, Matt Stone), Best Direction (Casey Nicholaw, Trey Parker), Best Featured Actress (Nikki M. James), Best Scenic Design (Scott Pask), Best Lighting Design (Brian MacDevitt), Best Sound Design (Brian Ronan) and Best Orchestrations (Larry Hochman, Stephen Oremus); the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical; five Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical, the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album; four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Musical, and the Drama League Award for Best Musical.

THE BOOK OF MORMON features set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Ann Roth, lighting design by Brian MacDevitt and sound design by Brian Ronan. Orchestrations are by Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus. Music direction and vocal arrangements are by Stephen Oremus.

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