Kendrick Lamar‘s debut movie has been pushed back to 2026 as Paramount Pictures has decided to delay its release date.
The as-yet-untitled film, a collaboration with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, was originally set to come out on July 4, where it would have competed with the new Jurassic Park film.
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Kendrick’s Grand National Tour with SZA, which runs from April 19 to August 9, would have also clashed with the rollout of the movie.
It is now scheduled for release on March 20, 2026, according to Variety.
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Very little is known about the film, including whether Kendrick will actually star in the project, but there is speculation he will take the lead role — which would mark his biggest acting role.
The rumored title of the movie is Whitney Springs and it reportedly follows a Black man interning as a slave re-enactor at a history museum who finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.
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While there has been no official confirmation, the film is also said to star Heretic actor Chloe East, also known for her appearance in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans.
She will reportedly be joined by unknown Celeste Octavia who, according to IMDB, has been a body double for Madonna and appeared in music videos for British rock bands Oasis and Depeche Mode.
Last year, Kendrick Lamar was spotted in production on the film, shooting scenes in Pomona, California.
Brian Robbins, CEO of Paramount Pictures, which owns the distribution rights to the movie, previously described it as “one of the funniest and most original scripts we’ve ever read and it’s certain to create some fireworks” at 2024 CinemaCon.
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Kendrick has worked with South Park duo Parker and Stone in the past for his “The Heart Part 5” music video in 2022.
The pair were responsible for the deepfake technology present in the clip, which saw Kendrick morph into a number of famous figures such as Kobe Bryant, Will Smith and OJ Simpson.
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In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Stone revealed there were other deepfakes which did not make the cut, saying: “You see Kendrick turned into 2Pac, Kendrick turned into Kanye, and I think we had Eminem.”
