First, there's a strange question: how and why are Warner Bros. and Paramount co-producing Christopher Nolan's sci-fi epic, 'Interstellar'? Then there's the strange answer: because Warner Bros. wanted to be part of Nolan's next film so much that they were willing to give another studio the rights to future 'Friday the 13th' and 'South Park' movies to make it happen.

In a bizarre act of Hollywood bartering, Warner Bros. handed Paramount their share of rights to the iconic horror franchise and the animated comedy series in order to stay involved in the Nolan business. In other words, they gave up two of their assets so they could own a piece of a very expensive science-fiction movie that no one outside of Hollywood knows much about.

It's a move that may initially seem a little silly to some, but Warner Bros. reaped the benefits of having Nolan's back on 'The Dark Knight' and 'Inception,' so there's no way they were going to watch another studio make use of their top guy. This way, they get to keep working with a lucrative filmmaker, and Paramount gets someone else to help handle the financial burden of 'Interstellar' (as well as those 'Friday the 13th' and 'South Park' rights).

So what does this mean? Well, other than 'Interstellar' having two giant backers, it means that Paramount has five years to make use of the 'Friday the 13th' and 'South Park' licenses as they see fit. After that, the rights will swing back to Warner Bros. So it also means that we might soon be hearing about new 'Friday the 13th' and 'South Park' movies sometime very soon. After all, why would Paramount waste a golden opportunity to play with someone else's potentially lucrative toys?

There are still hurdles, of course. A 'South Park' movie would require the involvement of series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, while a new 'Friday the 13th' would enter a landscape where a sequel to the 2009 remake failed to materialize. Well, they have five years to figure it all out.

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