The Viral Twitter Thread-Turned Movie Zola Is Almost Here

Almost five years after A’Ziah “Zola” King shared the details of her epic odyssey through Florida in an extensive Twitter thread, the movie that it inspired has been scheduled to make its theatrical debut. And if A24’s first teaser of the film is any indication, Zola will be worth the wait.

In 2015, King literally broke the internet with a thread recalling a ridiculous road trip Florida that she’d embarked upon with a stranger and her boyfriend. The story unfolded in a 148-tweet Twitter thread, taking King’s followers on a journey that was almost too chaotic to be true. (She later admitted that she had added some razzle dazzle for shock value). Nonetheless, King regaled the internet with her tale, catching the interest of Hollywood heavyweights like Ava DuVernay, Solange Knowles, and Missy Elliot— and earned her a meeting with award-winning film company A24.

King’s collaboration with A24 resulted in the development of Zola, a dramedy loosely based on her viral Twitter thread written by Jeremy O. Harris and Janicza Bravo (who also directed the project) . Taylour Paige (Hit the Floor) was cast to a version of King in the film named Zola, and Riley Keough (Logan Lucky) was scouted to play her traveling companion Stefani, a dancer who was actually working as a prostitute. Nicholas Braun (Succession) and Colman Domingo (If Beale Street Could Talk) also joined the cast, playing Stefani's boyfriend and pimp respectively. 

Zola premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, earning praise from critics who had the opportunity to view it exclusively at the event. After months of buzz, the film will soon be available for the masses, and A24 is keeping us locked in with a first look at the project.

The teaser shows Zola and Stefani getting themselves together in the mirror, fixing their hair and makeup before what we can assume is a night on the town.

"You wanna know how me and this bitch fell out?" King narrates over the clip. "It's kinda long, but it's full of suspense."

There's not much else to the teaser, but it's just enough to whet our appetites. As of now, Zola doesn't have specified release date — the trailer just hints that it's "coming soon. But I can exercise a little patience for this project, especially after waiting for literal years for it to come out. If King's thread was that outrageous, I can't wait to see where A24 takes her story.