Zoë Kravitz called her directorial debut ‘P*ssy Island’ when she made it public in 2022, but renamed it ‘Blink Twice’ due to negative reactions. The actress reflected on the change in a recent chat with Entertainment Weekly ahead of the film’s release:
“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 MPAA not wanting to put it on a poster, or a billboard, or a kiosk, movie theaters not wanting to put it on a ticket.”
She explained:
“Interestingly enough, after researching it, women were offended by the word, and 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.”
Kravitz also rewrote the script after the #MeToo movement’s rise in 2017.
The Title Reflected Kravitz’s Core Idea For The Plot
Zoë Kravitz resisted changing her film’s title at first, even as criticisms kept coming, because the title reflected real stories she heard about wealthy men entertaining women on remote islands. She told the Wall Street Journal:
“The title came from that world. The title is the seed of the story. It represents this time where it would be acceptable for a group of men to call a place that, and the illusion that we’re out of that time now.”
The actress’ script starts as Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) go for a vacation on a private island owned by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). A fun weekend on the island soon turns into a life-threatening mystery.
The cast includes Kyle MacLachlan, Haley Joel Osment, Adria Arjona, Geena Davis, Simon Rex, Christian Slater, and Liz Caribel.
‘Blink Twice’ waits for release on August 23.
