Kendrick Lamar is expanding his resume with his new gig as a movie producer. The Compton star and his longtime collaborator Dave Free have teamed up with the creators of “South Park” to work on a live-action comedy movie for Paramount Pictures.
The film will follow a Black man who interns as a slave reenactor and discovers the ancestors of his white girlfriend were his family’s slave owners. Park County’s Matt Stone and Trey Parker will serve as coproducers alongside Lamar and Free, who are co-producing under their production and publishing house pgLang company; Vernon Chatman, the voice behind a few “South Park” characters, will pen the movie. Production is slated to kick off in the spring.
“On behalf of Paramount Pictures and the wider ViacomCBS family, we look forward to ushering in the first theatrical collaboration from these creative visionaries, and galvanizing audiences worldwide around a powerful storytelling experience,” Paramount president/CEO Brian Robbins said in a statement.
News of the untitled comedy film comes nearly two years after Lamar and Free launched their multidisciplinary media company. Per Complex, pgLang was developed for creators and seeks “to build stories that are equally accessible and engaging,” no matter the format.
“Our community speaks music, film, television, art, books, and podcasts – because sometimes we have to use different languages to get the point of our stories across. Stories that speak to many nations, many races, and many ages,” the company once wrote in a statement.
As Kendrick works on the movie, fans are awaiting his next album, which he will also be producing. The project, he announced, will be the last one to release under Top Dawg Entertainment.
“As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years,” Kendrick wrote back in August. “The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling.”
He added, “There’s beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve prayed for you all. See you soon enough.”