Less than 24 hours after the announcement dropped at Dream Con 2026, "Make Out Hill anime" was trending on every platform simultaneously. A XXXTENTACION animated feature, officially announced July 11 by Martian Blueberry in partnership with the XXXTentacion Estate, is either the most exciting creative tribute in recent memory or the thing that keeps you staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m. wondering how it's all going to play out. Either way, nobody's ignoring it. The project is still in pre-production, no release date has been confirmed, and yet the internet is already operating at full speculation capacity. Here's everything we actually know, what's still unknown, and why the studio attached to this project matters more than you might think.
Quick Answer
Make Out Hill is an animated feature film inspired by XXXTENTACION's life and legacy, officially announced July 11, 2026, at Dream Con. It is being developed by Martian Blueberry in partnership with the XXXTentacion Estate. The film follows a fractured young soul through interconnected fantasy worlds and blends dark fantasy, horror, romance, and comedy. It is currently in pre-production with no confirmed release date.
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The Announcement: What Happened at Dream Con 2026?
Dream Con, held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston from July 10 to 12, 2026, is one of the country's largest conventions celebrating gaming, anime, sports, and pop culture. It was founded by the RDCWorld collective and has become a cultural touchstone for Black fandom and internet culture specifically. That context matters, because Make Out Hill was not announced at an industry trade show or a Hollywood press event. It dropped at a fan convention, in a panel room, in front of the exact audience XXXTENTACION spent his career speaking to.
The reveal came during the "From The Boondocks to Martian Blueberry" panel on Friday evening, July 10. Carl and Love Jones, co-founders of Martian Blueberry, were discussing their studio's trajectory when they officially unveiled the project to the world. The announcement was first reported exclusively by Complex, which called it a first-of-its-kind animated film inspired by X's life and legacy.
Key Stat: XXXTentacion's YouTube channel had 36.7 million subscribers and an estimated 9 billion total views by April 2022 — nearly four years after his death. His music has not faded. It has grown.
The studio also ran a live voice acting talent search on Saturday, partnering with Dream Con to discover emerging performers. Whether any of those discoveries end up in Make Out Hill remains to be seen, but it signals that Martian Blueberry is approaching this project as a community-rooted production, not just a licensing deal.
What Is the Story of Make Out Hill?
Per the official synopsis shared with Complex, Make Out Hill follows "a fractured young soul traveling through interconnected fantasy worlds in search of the missing pieces of his heart." The film blends anime-style visuals with dark fantasy, horror, romance, and comedy, described as a "visually explosive fever dream where fallen angels, astral realms, shadow demons, and other worlds collide in a cosmic coming-of-age journey."
The description is deliberately abstract, and that's the point. This is not a biopic. It is not meant to retell Jahseh Onfroy's biography the way a traditional documentary would. Instead, the project draws on the emotional DNA of his art, his vulnerability, his refusal to stay in a box, his tendency toward the surreal and the painful and the tender all at once. Think less "authorized life story" and more spiritual successor to the aesthetic X himself spent years building across emo rap, trap metal, punk, and lo-fi.
The genres listed in the synopsis matter too. Dark fantasy and horror point toward X's harder, more aggressive work. Romance gestures toward his more tender songs, the tracks that made teenage listeners feel seen in their loneliness. Comedy is the most interesting inclusion because X, especially in his early SoundCloud era, had a chaotic humor that often gets buried beneath the heavier narratives about his life. If Make Out Hill actually balances all of those tones, that alone would make it something rare.
Pro Tip: The synopsis language ("fallen angels," "astral realms," "shadow demons") is strikingly close to the imagery X himself used in visual projects and music videos. Fans who dig into the aesthetic of tracks like "Skins" or the music video for "SAD!" will recognize the visual vocabulary immediately.
Martian Blueberry: Who Is Actually Making This Film?
This is where the story gets genuinely interesting if you care about animation at all. Martian Blueberry is not a random studio that pitched an estate on licensing a dead rapper's name. It is a creatively serious, award-winning operation with real credentials.
Carl Jones is one of the most important names in modern adult animation. He served as co-executive producer of The Boondocks, the Aaron McGruder-created Peabody Award-winning Adult Swim series that remains one of the sharpest, most culturally resonant animated shows in American television history. His subsequent work includes Black Dynamite on Adult Swim and Young Love on Max, which was based on the Oscar-winning short Hair Love. He also collaborated with Tyler, The Creator and Kid Cudi, two artists whose fan bases overlap heavily with X's.
"XXXTENTACION changed music by refusing to fit inside a box. At Martian Blueberry, we've built our studio around that same philosophy."
Love Jones co-founded Martian Blueberry alongside Carl, bringing a background in entertainment, music, and startups to the studio's business model. Together they built the studio from the ground up during COVID, and the results speak for themselves. Their credits include winning two Clio Awards for co-directing Megan Thee Stallion's "Neva Play" music video, plus three additional Clio Awards and a Webby Award for their animated MLB series Undeniable, which spotlighted the true stories of Negro League baseball heroes. The studio has produced branded content for HBO, Amazon, Meta, and Major League Baseball.
| Martian Blueberry Credits | Award / Platform |
|---|---|
| The Boondocks (co-executive producer, Carl Jones) | Peabody Award Winner |
| Megan Thee Stallion "Neva Play" Music Video | Two Clio Awards |
| MLB: Undeniable (Negro Leagues animated series) | Three Clio Awards + Webby Award for Best Animation |
| Branded content for MTV, HBO, Amazon, Meta | Major platform partnerships |
| Young Love (Max, based on Oscar-winning short Hair Love) | Premium streaming series |
In May 2025, Martian Blueberry also signed with Partizan, one of the most respected production companies in advertising and branded content globally. Angela Foster, Partizan's Executive Producer of Animation, described the studio as building worlds that are "completely unreal but still totally relatable," citing their story-first approach. This is the team now entrusted with translating XXXTENTACION's legacy into animation.
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The XXXTentacion Estate's Role and What His Mother Said
Cleopatra Bernard, X's mother and the Executor of The XXXTentacion Estate, is directly involved in this production. That matters. She was also involved in the 2022 Hulu documentary Look at Me, and anyone who watched that film knows Bernard is both fiercely protective of her son's memory and honest about the complexity of his life. Her statement accompanying the Make Out Hill announcement does not read like corporate-speak.
She added that she believes fans will recognize pieces of the artist they loved throughout the journey. That phrasing is important: "pieces of the artist," not "the full story of his life." The estate appears to be deliberately positioning this as something closer to spiritual tribute than biographical record, which sidesteps the most contentious parts of X's legacy while still honoring the emotional resonance he had with millions of listeners."Make Out Hill isn't about recreating his life. It's about honoring his spirit, his imagination, and the message he left behind about growth, self-discovery, and transformation."
Important: XXXTENTACION's legacy is genuinely complicated. He faced serious domestic abuse allegations and had significant legal troubles before his death. The estate's choice to frame Make Out Hill as a tribute to his creative spirit rather than a full-life narrative is a deliberate one. Going in with that context matters.
Why X's Legacy Makes This Specific Project Different
XXXTENTACION was shot and killed in Deerfield Beach, Florida on June 18, 2018. He was 20 years old. At that point he had released two studio albums: 17 in 2017, and ? in 2018, the latter debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. Two posthumous albums followed: Skins in late 2018 and Bad Vibes Forever in 2019. In the years since, his music has not just maintained, it has expanded. Three of his alleged killers were convicted in 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Key Stat: XXXTentacion has 61 million RIAA-certified units sold in the US alone, with his single "Sad!" certified Diamond. He is one of the top 20 all-time best-selling artists in digital singles history.
What makes the Make Out Hill announcement feel genuinely culturally significant is that X's fanbase is not a nostalgia project. It is active, young, and passionately engaged. His music streams have increased year over year since his death in certain periods, and he consistently ranks among Spotify's most-followed artists. Artists like Billie Eilish, Juice Wrld, and Kendrick Lamar have cited him as an influence. The audience for Make Out Hill exists right now and is already online talking about it.
The anime format also fits. X was not shy about his interest in Japanese culture. His visual aesthetic drew on manga and anime references repeatedly, and his fanbase overlaps heavily with the anime community. A film that blends his emotional world with anime-influenced animation is not a forced crossover. It is a natural continuation of the creative territory he was already exploring.
The Name: What Does "Make Out Hill" Actually Mean?
The title is not arbitrary. "Make Out Hill" was a concept X created himself. In a post on his own X (then Twitter) account, he defined it: "makeouthill, the place where all ideas and love meet." He got the name from someone else but gave it his own meaning, turning it into a kind of utopian mental space where creativity, vulnerability, and connection intersect.
He later collaborated with UK rap artist scarlxrd on a track titled "Make Out Hill," released posthumously in 2019 on Bad Vibes Forever. The song pulls from the darker end of X's catalog, a collision of screaming rap metal and emo energy that scarlxrd also specialized in. But beneath that noise, the concept of Make Out Hill as a place, an idealized mental or spiritual destination, carries genuine weight.
Choosing this as the title of the animated film instead of something more generic or biography-forward is a creative choice that suggests Martian Blueberry and the estate are working from the inside out. They are not naming it after X himself or one of his biggest hits. They are naming it after a concept he created, a place he invented in his own imagination. That signals something about the kind of film they are actually trying to make.
How Does Make Out Hill Compare to the Look at Me Documentary?
The 2022 Hulu documentary Look at Me: XXXTENTACION, directed by Sabaah Folayan, took a grounded biographical approach. It included first-time interviews with figures like Geneva Ayala, X's ex-girlfriend who accused him of domestic abuse, and received widespread critical attention precisely because it refused to offer easy answers about who Onfroy was. It holds a 7.6 on IMDb and divided opinion sharply in the fan community, with some praising its honesty and others feeling it misrepresented the person they knew through his music.
Make Out Hill is doing something fundamentally different. Where Look at Me worked with real footage, real interviews, and real-world chronology, Make Out Hill will build a fictional world inspired by the emotional themes in X's art. The estate has explicitly said this is not about recreating his life. That creates enormous creative freedom but also raises a question that will follow the project until its release: whose version of XXXTENTACION does this film represent?
The answer, based on what's been announced, is primarily his own. The project draws on his artistry, his imagination, and the narrative he was constructing through his music. Whether that framing satisfies everyone in the audience is a separate conversation entirely, but as a creative premise it is at least coherent and honest about what it is trying to do.
My First Reaction When I Heard the News
I'm going to be real: I did not see this coming, and I was not sure how I felt about it for a good five minutes. My first instinct was skepticism. We've seen what happens when entertainment companies reach into a deceased artist's catalog and build something that looks like a tribute but functions like a product. The results usually feel hollow to the people who actually cared.
But then I looked at who was actually attached. Carl Jones is not a default hire. He built something with The Boondocks that people still quote and reference today, a show that was openly political, emotionally sharp, and willing to be uncomfortable. His sensibility and X's sensibility are actually compatible in ways that are not immediately obvious unless you think about what both of them were doing: taking specific cultural pain and transforming it into something with universal resonance through a medium that mainstream critics tend to underestimate.
The genre blend in the synopsis also landed differently when I sat with it. Dark fantasy, horror, romance, comedy. That is basically the emotional range of X's discography compressed into a visual format. If the film commits to that tonal instability the same way X's albums did, it could be something genuinely singular. That is a lot of "ifs" for a project still in pre-production. But for the first time since the announcement, I'm curious instead of cautious.What We Still Don't Know
As of July 12, 2026, several major questions about Make Out Hill remain officially unanswered:
- Release date: The film is in pre-production. No timeline has been announced.
- Platform: No streaming service or theatrical distribution deal has been confirmed publicly.
- Cast: No voice actors have been announced. Martian Blueberry ran a talent search at Dream Con, which may feed into casting, but nothing official has been confirmed.
- Music: Whether the film will use X's existing catalog, commission new music in his style, or feature posthumous recordings is unclear.
- Visual style: Beyond the word "anime," no animation style, art direction samples, or concept art have been released.
- Length and format: Is this a theatrical feature, a streaming film, or something that might evolve into a series? Unknown.
Casting, first-look materials, and an official premiere date are all expected to be announced later in 2026, per the original press release. The internet will not be patient, and neither will X's fanbase. Watch this space.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Make Out Hill an official XXXTENTACION anime?
Yes. Make Out Hill is an officially sanctioned animated feature developed in direct partnership with The XXXTentacion Estate, led by Cleopatra Bernard, X's mother and estate executor. It is not a fan project or unauthorized production. It was announced July 11, 2026, at Dream Con in Houston.
Who is making the Make Out Hill anime?
The film is being produced by Martian Blueberry, an animation studio co-founded by Carl Jones and Love Jones. Carl Jones is known for co-executive producing the Peabody Award-winning The Boondocks, as well as Black Dynamite and Young Love. The studio has won multiple Clio Awards and a Webby for prior work.
When does Make Out Hill come out?
No official release date has been confirmed. As of July 2026, the film is still in pre-production. Martian Blueberry and the XXXTentacion Estate have stated that casting, first-look items, and a premiere date will be announced later in 2026. Check back for updates as they are confirmed.
Is Make Out Hill a biopic about XXXTENTACION's life?
No. Both Martian Blueberry and the estate have been explicit that this is not a traditional biopic. Instead it is an original cinematic experience inspired by X's imagination, creativity, and emotional vulnerability. The story follows a fictional fractured young soul through fantasy worlds, not a timeline of Onfroy's real life.
Where will Make Out Hill be available to stream or watch?
No streaming platform or theatrical distribution deal has been announced for Make Out Hill as of July 2026. The project is in pre-production. Distribution details are expected to be confirmed alongside casting and release date announcements later in 2026.
What does "Make Out Hill" mean in XXXTentacion's own words?
X defined Make Out Hill as "the place where all ideas and love meet." He received the name from someone else and gave it his own meaning, turning it into a conceptual space where creativity, vulnerability, and connection intersect. He later used it as the title of a posthumously released track featuring UK rapper scarlxrd.
The Verdict So Far
Make Out Hill is the most interesting entertainment announcement in the hip-hop-meets-anime space in years. The creative credentials behind it are real, the estate involvement is genuine, and the conceptual framing is thoughtful rather than opportunistic. The fact that it was announced at Dream Con, in front of a fanbase built on exactly the kind of cultural overlap this film is targeting, feels intentional in the best possible way.
But everything hinges on execution. A project like this can go wrong in a hundred directions: tone-deaf creative choices, rushed production, a platform deal that buries it, or simply the impossible task of meeting the emotional expectations that millions of people have built up around X's legacy. The team at Martian Blueberry knows all of this. Carl Jones has spent his career operating in the space between cultural complexity and animation craft. Whether that's enough to pull off something that honors who XXXTENTACION actually was as an artist remains to be seen.
For now, Make Out Hill is a promise and a title. The place where all ideas and love meet. Here's hoping the film earns that name.
Sources & References
- XXXTENTACION-Inspired Animated Feature 'Make Out Hill' Announced — Complex, July 11, 2026
- Late Rapper XXXTentacion's Legacy Comes to Life in Animated Film — The Music Universe, July 2026
- XXXTentacion — Wikipedia
- Partizan Signs Award-Winning Animation Studio Martian Blueberry — Martian Blueberry, May 2025
- Dream Con 2026 Official Website
- Look at Me: XXXTENTACION (2022 Documentary) — Wikipedia
- Carl and Love Jones to Showcase Animation, Talent, and Storytelling at Dream Con — Urban Mag Online
