The Cannes Film Festival is happening soon, so there’s been a lot of deal-making that’s either happening or about to happen, and many projects positioning themselves to land deals during the festival. One of those projects is called Pussy Island – at least that’s what it’s called right now. And I hope they stick with the title, in spite of the inevitable objections that it’ll be difficult to market a film called Pussy Island. But then again I don’t think the filmmakers behind Pussy Island are doing this for the mainstream Super Bowl crowd, although with the right moves, it’ll make its way to that audience anyway.
Pussy Island was co-written by Zoë Kravitz who will also direct. It’s just been announced that Channing Tatum will be the male lead – and they did an interview with Deadline ahead of Cannes market presumably to drive up interest in the project for financing at the festival. Here’s the synopsis:
“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 terrifying.”
It's supposed to be a genre thriller exploring sexual politics. As Zoë said:
“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.”
With the title, and the storyline about a tech mogul who parties on his island with his rich friends and beautiful women, in these times, it’s not a stretch to think of a real life dead rapist pedophile and his wealthy and influential and royal associates, right? So Zoë is not exaggerating when she says that “this time and place we claim to not be in anymore” is still happening. She’s clearly had a front row seat to it – and I’m really, really interested in how she’ll interpret this to screen. You think Prince Andrew will make a cameo?
As for Channing, they developed his character together and the film is being produced through his production company. Zoë tells Deadline that he was her first choice because she could sense that he’s a “true feminist” and would be down to participate in these uncomfortable but necessary conversations about power and gender and sex. They actually didn’t know each other before so he was surprised when she reached out and this could be the most challenging role of his career, as he told Deadline:
“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.”
Clearly they worked well together, because they talk in this interview about how at their first meeting she was like, dude, stop wearing Crocs, LOL.
So Pussy Island represents, professionally for Channing Tatum, an opportunity to show a new range. And what’s especially exciting is that, for Zoë, she’s now moving into the next phase of her career, very well-timed. Because, of course, her next major blockbuster is The Batman, playing Catwoman. So potentially, she’ll be leveraging the momentum off of that commercial performance to drive her personal projects like Pussy Island where she’s taking a 100% leadership role behind the camera. I love this strategy, and I love this work so far.
And on the gossip side…
Remember when Zoë’s divorce from Karl Glusman was first announced, Channing’s name came up? Looks like this is what precipitated those rumours. That’s not to say that, sure, it’s possible that they’re involved like that, but it’s also quite possible that someone heard about them hanging out, assumed it was romantic, and it’s now turned out to be business.
