In October 2015, nearly 150 tweets fired off by 19-year-old Aziah “Zola” Wells went viral. Her saga told a wild tale about a weekend trip to dance in Tampa’s notorious strip clubs. But the road trip turned violent, with forced prostitution, a shooting and an attempted shooting.
While Wells later admitted that parts of her Twitter tale were fabricated, the story took the internet by storm. Stars including Missy Elliot, Keke Palmer and Ava DuVernay shared it. After multiple movie studios sought rights to the story, A24 emerged the winner.
On Wednesday, the trailer for Zola arrived.
“Last month I went dancing at this cute spot in Florida where my roommate’s girl made like 5 Gs a night,” says a voiceover at the beginning of the trailer.
An excited pair of dancers head to sunny, colorful Tampa to get their dollar bills before getting involved in something much more sinister. Taylour Paige stars as Zola, with Riley Keough playing dancer Stefani and Euphoria star Colman Domingo playing a dangerous pimp named X.
Tampa Bay natives will recognize a few local landmarks in the trailer, from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to the truck painted with “Jesus Saves, Believe This!”
Zola is the second movie filmed by A24 around Tampa Bay. Spring Breakers, shot around town in 2012, was the first.
The film is coming to theaters this summer.