Months ago, rumors swirled that Zoe Kravitz and Channing Tatum were the latest pair in a long line of unexpected celebrity couples that have cropped up over the past year.
As it turns out, the two were keeping things strictly professional by working on Kravitz’s upcoming and gloriously titled directorial debut “Pussy Island,” a genre thriller which she co-wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum.
The film follows a “young, clever Los Angeles cocktail waitress” named Frida who scores an invite to a private island owned by billionaire philanthropist and tech mogul Slater King, played by Tatum.
“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,” the film’s description reads, according to Deadline. “Something she can’t quite put her finger on. Something that is a bit terrifying.”
The film will begin production in a tropical locale sometime early next year.
Kravitz has apparently spent years developing the script, which she said is partly inspired by the “pretty wild behavior from the opposite sex” that she’s witnessed as a woman in the entertainment industry.
As for its provocative title, the “Big Little Lies” star explained that while it started out as “kind of a joke,” she ultimately settled on “Pussy Island” because of how it speaks to timely dialogues about gender, sexuality and power.
“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,” Kravitz told Deadline. “It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways.”
Tatum, who also helped develop the script, was Kravitz’s first choice to star in the project. The actor likened his role in the film as the owner of the titular island to an “extremely committed version — psychotic possibly — but an extreme version of myself.”
“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,” Tatum said. “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.”
The role of Frida has yet to be cast, as Kravitz explained she wanted to write a character that she’d love to play with the intention of handing it over to another performer, so she could focus on directing.
And as for any lingering questions about whether there are sparks between the new co-workers, Tatum recalled how Kravitz essentially read him for filth over wearing Crocs to their first business meeting.
“Just to be clear, there are people out there who can pull off the Crocs thing,” Kravitz admitted. “I just wasn’t sure you were one of them.”