It doesn't get much more extraordinary than Donald Glover or Rihanna in terms of creative capacity. Rumors of the two vocalists working together swirled when a photo surfaced of filming in Cuba throughout summer 2018. But now, the pairing feels more official.
A new fan video from Pharos festival in New Zealand contains the first footage for Guava Island. It appears to be a trailer, but not a full one. The footage shows Glover as a couple. He sings throughout. At one point, Glover shout's the film's premise, "What's wrong with me is we live in paradise but none of us actually have the time or the means to live here."
Guava Island is credited to Glover's alter-ego: "A Childish Gambino Film." It's no surprise that Hiro Murai is also involved. He's a longtime artist collaborator who worked on Atlanta and "This is America." Black Panther breakout star Letitia Wright and Nonso Anozie are expected to star.
Rihanna's most recent film role was in Ocean's Eight. Glover's last three films were Spider-Man: Homecoming , Star Wars: A Solo Story and the rebooted CGI Lion King (to be released in July). And somehow, with a resume like that, he still managed to shoot an entire new movie in secret.
Rihanna and Glover certainly have chemistry, even in the small dose of footage. "That's what all my other girlfriends say," Glover says. Rihanna follows up with a pillow to the face.
Pharos festival is billed as a three-day immersive, augmented reality experience. The first was in 2016 in Joshua Tree. It was basically a series of shows inside a VR Dome pitched in the middle of the desert. Glover described it as a "communal space" to Vanity Fair in February.
"A place that evolves and reacts to the culture," he said of the event. "We aren't tied to a format and that lets us adapt in a way that others can't. We're selling real intimacy. We protect the experience and it becomes something you genuinely share with the people around you and you take away something special. We're looking at expanding the world in 2018—there will be more artists involved."
Glover's last album was Awaken My Love! in 2016 and he is currenty on his "This is America" tour, which ends in December. Rihanna's last album, Anti, was also released in 2016. Guava Island has no release date.
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