Zoë Kravitz is taking Channing Tatum to Pussy Island
Kravitz's directorial debut is a genre thriller about sexual politics
The only thing better than the name of Zoë Kravitz’s new movie—titled Pussy Island (!!!)—is the plot description, which involves a private island owned by a billionaire tech mogul and a cocktail waitress from Los Angeles who finds herself on said island, only to quickly discover that things are—how do you say…—fucked up. For the part of the wealthy tech bro, Kravitz enlisted Channing Tatum, who also worked with Kravitz to develop the script. Here’s how Deadline, which broke the news of Pussy Island, describes the film:
Frida is a young, clever, Los Angeles cocktail waitress who has her eyes set on the prize: philanthropist and tech mogul Slater King (Tatum). When she skillfully maneuvers her way into King’s inner circle and ultimately an intimate gathering on his private island, she is ready for a journey of a lifetime. Despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne, and late-night dance parties, Frida can sense that there’s more to this island than meets the eye. something she can’t quite put her finger on. Something that is a bit terrifying.
Can we get a hearty FUCK YES?!?! But wait! There’s more: Kravitz says she began working on the script for Pussy Island back in 2017, and she wrote the role of Slater King with Tatum in mind. As for Frida, Kravitz wanted to write a character she would love to play, though she’s casting another actor in that role so she can focus her efforts on directing her first feature. Kravitz says the title Pussy Island “means a lot of things,” and the way she describes it, it’s a timely story:
“As a woman in general, and a woman in this industry, I’ve experienced some pretty wild behavior from the opposite sex. The title was kind of a joke at first, this place where people would go, bring women, party and hang out. The story evolved into something else, but the title wound up having multiple meanings. And it alludes to this time and place we claim to not be in anymore, in terms of sexual politics. People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behavior. It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways. I like that the title leads with that and has some heavy meaning beneath it.”
We already knew Zoë Kravitz ruled, and if news of her directorial debut and its content (and the title, which better not change between now and whenever we can stream this thing into our eyeballs) wasn’t further proof of what has long been a generally agreed upon truth, then how’s this: Channing Tatum says he stopped wearing Crocs because Kravitz said so.
“When someone can just come out and tell me I should not be wearing Crocs, and is so adamant about it, she completely convinced me and I never wear Crocs anymore,” Tatum told Deadline. “I totally loved Crocs for a hot second, and in one hang she was like, you can’t ever do that again. And I said, okay, fine.” That is power.