Keke Palmer and SZA to Star in New Buddy Comedy from Issa Rae

"I CANT WAIT!!!" Palmer wrote on Instagram as she confirmed she and SZA will team up in an untitled buddy comedy

Keke Palmer and SZA to Star in New Buddy Comedy from Issa Rae
Keke Palmer, SZA and Issa Rae. Photo:

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for W Magazine; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Amy Sussman/WireImage

Keke Palmer and SZA are heading to the big screen!

Palmer, 30, and SZA, 34, are set to costar in a buddy comedy produced by Issa Rae at TriStar Pictures. The movie does not yet have a title, but multiple outlets reported that Lawrence Lamont will direct the film, while Syreeta Singleton is writing the movie's screenplay.

Both Lamont and Singleton previously collaborated with Rae, 39, on her Max comedy series Rap Sh!t, which starred Aida Osman and KaMillion as two women trying to make it in the music industry as rappers. Lamont directed several episodes, while Singleton served as the series' showrunner.

Palmer will work on the movie as an executive producer in addition to her starring role through her company Big Boss, while SZA — whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe — will make her acting debut in the film. No plot details were immediately available.

"I CANT WAIT!!!" Palmer wrote on Instagram, confirming the casting news. She and SZA previously took over Saturday Night Live for a December 2022 episode, in which Palmer hosted and SZA appeared as the episode's musical guest.

Keke Palmer and Issa Rae pose for a picture at A Sip with Issa Rae and Keke Palmer during the HOORAE x Kennedy Center Weekend Takeover in Washington, D.C. March 27, 2022.
Keke Palmer and Issa Rae on March 27, 2022.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for HOORAE

Palmer last appeared onscreen in Jennifer Lopez's This Is Me... Now: A Love Story on Prime Video; she is just under one year removed from the release of her directorial debut short film Big Boss, as well as an album of the same title.

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SZA recently won best progressive R&B album, best pop duo/group performance and best R&B song at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February; she led all nominees with eight nominations at the awards show.

While the upcoming movie will be SZA's first feature-length acting performance, she previously appeared in a 2020 episode of Rae's HBO series Insecure. In 2019, SZA received an Academy Award nomination for her work on the song "All the Stars," which appeared in the 2018 superhero movie Black Panther.

SZA at Variety Hitmakers, Presented By Sony Audio
SZA on December 2, 2023.

Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images

The upcoming movie will mark filmmaker Lamont's first feature film as a director; the movie comes from Sony Pictures' CoCre Lab, which was a pact between ColorCreative and Columbia Pictures to help upcoming and diverse screenwriters develop and write a first studio feature based on original ideas.

No other casting announcements have been announced for the untitled buddy comedy. Palmer also has several projects in the works, including the long-rumored Sister Act 3, according to her IMDb page.

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