After Zola – a film based on a
Twitter thread – became a breakout hit at Sundance, we look at what else might be heading to cinemas soon
The breakout hit at this year’s Sundance festival was Zola (pictured, above), a comic thriller about a stripper who travels to
Florida for a weekend of sex and violence. Zola earned rave reviews from attendees, but the most interesting thing about it is that it was based on a Twitter thread. In 2015, Aziah “Zola” Wells wrote 148 tweets about the weekend she had just experienced. It was incredible; recounting each new jaw-dropping twist with such breathless excitement that
Hollywood soon came knocking.
And who could blame them? After years spent adapting the same novels, video games and comic books to diminishing returns, why wouldn’t the industry try something new by acquiring the rights to a wildly successful Twitter thread? If Zola is a success – which looks likely to be the case – then it will open the floodgates for a new breed of films derived from other viral intellectual property. Luckily, there are plenty of options …