Zoe Kravitz is set to make her directorial debut with the thriller Pussy Island. Channing Tatum is set to star in the film in which Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum co-wrote together.
Tatum stars as a philanthropist and tech mogul named Slater who whisks away young, clever, Los Angeles cocktail waitress Frida to his mysterious private island. 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 terrifying.
The role of Frida has yet to be cast.
In speaking on Pussy Island, Kravitz went into detail from writing the project to its name’s meaning.
“The title means a lot of things. I started writing this story in 2017. 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.”
Tatum isn’t just starring in the film. He is producing it as well through his company Free Association. When it came to penning this project Kravitz said “Chan was my first choice, the one I thought of when I wrote this character.” This was surprising to Tatum when Kravitz called with that offer, because he’s not usually offered roles like that and because it felt like a challenge to wade into the perilous area of gender politics.
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“It’s terrifying to talk about anything, when you start putting your toes over the line, and talking about men and women today, as things are starting to bubble to the surface and everybody is starting to have accountability,” Tatum told Deadline. “When Zoë called me about this, I was shocked. I didn’t know her. I’d watched her in movies, knew she produced High Fidelity and had seen that, but I didn’t know she was creating on a level like this, where she wanted to direct. This came out of nowhere and the subject matter made me say, wait, why are you thinking about me for this? No one gives me a chance to play a role like this, everybody throws me down a different alley and expects me to do a certain thing. It was scary and liberating, just to be able to have a free conversation, where I was allowed to mess up, and say the wrong things. It became less about men and women and on more of a human thing that will open people’s eyes, rather than us drawing lines in the sand, the you’re a man, I’m a woman, it’s us against you thing. This goes deeper in a direction I’m fascinated by and I’m interested in seeing how people receive this and break it down in their own lives. And what they think the movie means and how would they have made decisions.
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Bruce Cohen, Kravitz, Tiffany Persons will also produce. FilmNation will handle international rights and CAA Media Finance will rep domestic rights in the Cannes Market starting next week.
As an actress, Kravitz plays Catwoman opposite Robert Pattinson in the upcoming film, The Batman.