South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone Apologize for Delays on Kendrick Lamar Film
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of South Park, have publicly apologized for the prolonged delay of their live-action comedy film project with Kendrick Lamar. Speaking to industry outlet The Ankler, the pair said they take full responsibility for the holdup and thanked collaborators pgLang and Paramount, adding "we still believe in the project." The film is tentatively titled Whitney Springs and remains in production at Paramount. According to NME, Lamar has already recorded several new songs for the film.
Timeline: from announcement to repeated delays
The collaboration first surfaced in early 2022: Lamar would co-produce a live-action comedy feature with Parker and Stone, with participation from pgLang — the company founded by Lamar and Dave Free — and a script written by South Park producer Vernon Chatman. The following year, it was confirmed that Parker would also direct in addition to producing, with Free co-producing.
Little news followed until 2025, when reports emerged that the film had been pushed to 2026, with speculation at the time pointing to a possible relaunch that March. Last November, Park County (Parker and Stone's production company) and pgLang confirmed the delay again in a joint statement saying they were "working hard to finish the film." No reason was given publicly, though Lamar's summer tour with SZA that year was floated as a possible factor. This time, the two creators say the crunch of producing South Park itself, alongside real-world events, has squeezed the film's timeline.
Plot details and controversy
Earlier reports described a premise involving a young Black man interning as a slave reenactor at a living-history museum who discovers that his white girlfriend's ancestors once owned his family, setting up a clash between past and present. The Ankler notes the premise may have shifted, now reportedly centering on a Black slave reenactor's conflict with a racially prejudiced small-town Midwestern mayor.
The collaboration has also drawn criticism. Comedian Andrew Schulz last year publicly called Lamar's partnership with the South Park creators "hypocritical," citing the show's past jokes about Black women. The friction reportedly traces back to criticism Schulz faced over earlier comments on interracial relationships made on the Flagrant podcast.
South Park Season 29
Season 29 of South Park is set to premiere September 16, airing on Paramount+ in the UK. Over the past two seasons, the show has cast U.S. President Donald Trump as a recurring antagonist — something the creators say they originally planned as a one-episode joke that kept going due to public backlash.