Zoë Kravitz forced to change explicit name of new film after offending ‘some women’
Zoë Kravitz was forced to change the name of her new film after 'some women' took offence to it.
The 35-year-old makes her directional debut with Blink Twice, a new thriller that is set to release this summer.
Channing Tatum, her partner, stars in the movie as Slater King - a tech billionaire who certainly has a lot about him.
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Slater welcomes a cocktail waitress to join him and his friends on a luxurious vacation on his private island, but things quickly take a sinister turn.
Well, the film was originally known as 'P*ssy Island' - something that was later changed for perhaps obvious reasons.
While the name may have changed, Kravitz says the spirit of 'P*ssy Island' is 'still alive'.
She told Entertainment Weekly: "It was made very clear to me that ‘p*ssy’ is a word that we, our society, are not ready to embrace yet.
"There were a lot of roadblocks along the way, whether it be the [Motion Picture Association of America] not wanting to put it on a poster, or a billboard, or a kiosk; movie theatres not wanting to put it on a ticket."
Kravitz spoke to some members of the target audience for the film, and she discovered many were put off by the term.
As a result, the director decided to ditch the name for something else.
Kravitz added: "Women seeing the title were saying, ‘I don’t want to see that movie,’ which is part of the reason I wanted to try and use the word, which is trying to reclaim the word, and not make it something that we’re so uncomfortable using.
"But we’re not there yet. And I think that’s something I have the responsibility as a filmmaker to listen to.
"I care about people seeing the film, and I care about how it makes people feel."
Now, Kravitz is happy with the name change and what Blink Twice has become.
She added: "I love the new title. I’m happy with the new title. I think everything happens for a reason, and I think it actually really focuses the movie in a great way,” she added. “And I think that was always the way it was meant to be."
While crafting Blink Twice, Kravitz had Tatum in mind when developing the character of Slater King.
"[He was the one] I thought of when I wrote this character," she said.
"I just knew from Magic Mike and his live shows, I got the sense he's a true feminist and I wanted to collaborate with someone who was clearly interested in exploring this subject matter."
Topics: TV And Film, US News, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Callum Jones