A collaboration between Kendrick Lamar, Dave Free and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone wasn’t exactly in our bingo card. What do a Pulitzer-winning rapper and a music exec have in common with television trailblazers anyway? The answer is simple: comedy.
Their Paramount Pictures film was shrouded in secrecy right from the start. Its initial announcement in January 2022 didn’t reveal much — just a brief synopsis and its production start schedule. Dozens of questions began circulating the digital sphere: “Who’s in the cast? What’s the title? Is Kendrick writing new music for the project? Are characters from South Park making special appearances? When is it premiering?”
While some of these questions were eventually answered, the film has since experienced two major delays with no concrete updates on the state of production. To paint a clearer picture, we’ve listed down everything we know (and don’t) about this elusive collaboration.
What We Know
Several facts about the film have been officially established since its announcement. The project is tentatively titled Whitney Springs, with Lamar and Free producing via their pgLang banner, and Parker and Stone producing via Park County. Parker will also serve as the director, marking his first non-South Park film in decades. Unbeknownst to some, the project will actually mark the four’s second collaboration; Free and Dot utilized Parker and Stone’s AI startup studio, Deep Voodoo, for the deepfakes we now see in the music video for “The Heart (Part 5).”
Meanwhile, longtime South Park writer and four-time Emmy winner Vernon Chatman (the man behind episodes like “Margaritaville” and “Raising the Bar”) will pen the script. Brian Robbins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures, called Chatman’s script “one of the funniest and original scripts” he’s ever read.
The project was originally scheduled to begin production in Spring 2022, as per the first announcement in January 2022. This was postponed by two long years due to the South Park creators’ other commitments, and in April 2024, the studio revealed that production would officially begin that summer. Summer came and went, and production didn’t actually start until October 2024 in Pomona, California.
As per a very short synopsis shared by Paramount, Whitney Springs will tell the story of a young Black man who’s doing his internship as a slave reenactor at a living history museum. He then finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors actually owned his, making for an interesting and absurdist dynamic. The initial announcement confirmed that the film will be a live-action comedy, but a Paramount Pictures-affiliated marketing opportunity webpage revealed that Whitney Springs will also be a musical. After a theatrical release, the film will stream on Paramount+.
What We Don’t Know
Despite Whitney Springs currently being in post-production, everyone involved has kept their lips sealed about the cast. Only one fan-captured footage from production has been leaked so far, and it didn’t even reveal anything. The film’s cast is also staying so under the radar that barely any rumors surrounding their identity exist. At most is a report that Heretic star Chloe East, Celeste Octavia and Dot himself are part of the cast; this rumor stems from a listing on a New Zealand-based app called “Originals for Paramount+,” but the app states that it’s “not affiliated with, endorsed by or in any way associated with Paramount+ or its products and services.” If it wasn’t obvious already, this should be taken with a grain of salt.
Taking into account the film’s musical genre and the rumored participation of Lamar, fans are also waiting to see if the artist will helm the Whitney Springs soundtrack. If speculation rings true, this won’t be a first for the rapper. He created and curated the soundtrack to Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, and gave us the GRAMMY-nominated gem called “All the Stars.” Maybe Whitney Springs will give us a part two.
There’s also the matter of the title. Although the film is being publicly referred to as Whitney Springs, its title hasn’t actually been confirmed by the producers nor the studio. Just like the cast, the tentative title was revealed via a poster on the supposed “Originals for Paramount+” app. The app then removed the image, leaving the title as “Untitled Trey Parker/Matt Stone/Kendrick Lamar Comedy.” Nobody has addressed this at all.
Kendrick Lamar’s movie “Whitney Springs, with, Chloe East, and Celeste Octavia, is set to release on July 11, as revealed by Paramount+.
“A Black man interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.” pic.twitter.com/pXnxBCFsT5
— POP GOSSIP (@TheePopGossip) March 5, 2025
Finally, we’re down to the big question: when is Whitney Springs releasing? Nobody knows. Its first release date was reportedly scheduled for July 4, 2025 and was shared by Stone himself during a 2024 Bloomberg Screentime panel, “We’re doing a movie with Kendrick, with Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free and their company. And we’re working on it and hopefully come out July 4 weekend opposite Jurassic Park, which is pretty funny.” He also added, “[Lamar is] very involved. And Dave Free is very involved. Every day they are working on it.”
In March 2025, the “Originals for Paramount+” app then claimed that the film was instead dropping one week later on July 11. Just a few weeks later, Paramount themselves announced that Whitney Springs will be postponed to March 20, 2026 from the July 4, 2025 release date. Radio silence followed, then, on November 21, another piece of heartbreaking news was announced: Whitney Springs has been delayed indefinitely. Instead of playing cat and mouse with a premiere date, they decided to just pull it from the schedule. No reason was given, but we did get a 12-word statement from Parker, Stone, Lamar and Free: “It’s true – we’re moving (again). We’re working hard at finishing the movie.”
‘South Park’ creators Trey Parker & Matt Stone’s new musical comedy movie, produced by Kendrick Lamar, has been delayed indefinitely
“It’s true – we’re moving (again). We’re working hard at finishing the movie” pic.twitter.com/lVFN3xPVwG
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 22, 2025
It’s been four years since the announcement of Whitney Springs and there are still more questions than answers. But fans remain seated for the elusive project, waiting on the next breadcrumb until it finally hits theaters. If anything, the secrecy behind this project is only fuelling the anticipation. Will this live-action comedy live up to the hype? We’ll have to wait and see.
