Trevor Noah’s ‘The Island’ R-Rated Comedy Lands at Paramount

Stand-up comedian and former talk-show host Trevor Noah has built his career on incisive social commentary. In the three years since his seven-year tenure as host of The Daily Show (for which he won two Emmy Awards), he’s found further prosperity onstage and as a podcaster. Now, it’s time for him to translate his onstage and talk-show talents to the storytelling medium with his R-rated comedy-film pitch, The Island.

A Concept Born of 2020’s Plight

As is the case with most social and political satire, the comedic inspiration for Trevor Noah’s The Island derives from a decidedly unfunny phenomenon: in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic. Noah has proposed a concept that will dramatize the profound separation of life in 2020 (not to mention America’s still ever-present political insularity) with the ultimate embodiment of isolation.

The Island will follow a very bossy businesswoman and an extremely devoted male high-school teacher who find themselves marooned on the same island. Whatever their differences may be, these two plane-wreck survivors will have only each other to depend on in their struggle to stay alive.

Production Breakdown – What We Know

The Island has been picked up by Paramount, which belongs to the corporation (Paramount Skydance) that owns The Daily Show’s channel Comedy Central (as well as The Daily Show’s streaming service, Paramount+). Noah himself will co-produce the film, but his writing role on The Island may not extend beyond a story-by credit: Andrew Jay Cohen, best known for co-writing the two Neighbors films and directing 2017’s The House (R-rated comedies all), has joined the project as screenwriter.

Searing Satire or Predictable Buddy Film?

Certainly, the premise of two opposites stranded together in the same predicament is rife with potential on a comedic and a sociopolitical level. However, it’s hard not to have some reservations about The Island’s potential as a story, considering it’s a concept that seems capable of describing the entire movie in a nutshell.

Doesn’t it go without saying that the two main characters will come to depend on each other, and then most likely to bond, developing a friendship (and perhaps a romance) that transcends their petty differences? Or will the creative team behind The Island cook up some narrative twists and character revelations that transcend such trite temptations?