Trey Parker and Matt Stone are addressing the prolonged delay surrounding their film collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, issuing an apology to the project’s partners while reaffirming that the movie is still alive.
In a statement to The Ankler, the “South Park” co-creators accepted responsibility for the scheduling slowdown on the musical comedy, which is currently operating under the working title “Whitney Springs.”
“We take full responsibility for the schedule delay of this movie,” Parker and Stone said. “We apologize to our partners at pgLang and Paramount, and we appreciate their patience. ‘South Park’ and life’s circumstances have gotten in the way, but we still believe in the project.”
The film is in production at Paramount, which is also the home of “South Park.” Parker and Stone are working on the movie through their Park County banner. Lamar is producing as well, alongside Dave Free and his pgLang company.
Details around the project have remained limited, but the available descriptions point to a sharp-edged musical comedy. Early loglines said “Whitney Springs” centers on a Black man working as a slave reenactor at a living history museum who discovers that his white girlfriend’s family once owned his ancestors.
The Ankler reported a slightly different version of the premise, saying the story follows the Black slave reenactor as he clashes with the racist mayor of a Midwestern town. According to The Ankler, Parker will play that mayor. The outlet also reported that Lamar has recorded several original songs for the film.
Representatives for Paramount, Parker and Stone did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment, according to the source material.
The apology comes as Parker and Stone are also preparing for the next chapter of “South Park.” Season 29 of the animated series is set to debut Sept. 16. The show’s recent run has already drawn attention: Seasons 27 and 28 arrived after a two-year hiatus and included Donald Trump as a major antagonist.
“South Park” has continued taking aim at the president outside its regular season as well. Parker and Stone recently changed the name of “South Park” to “South America,” described in the source material as an apparent jab at Trump for changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario to Lake America.
For now, the film’s path forward remains defined by the creators’ public mea culpa and their insistence that the project still has their commitment. While no release date was provided in the supplied material, Parker and Stone’s statement makes clear that the delay has not ended their belief in the Lamar collaboration.