Why Olivia Wilde’s ‘Don’t Worry Darling won’t be ruined by online controversy

A big Fall flick by Warner Bros., Don’t Worry Darling, has become embroiled in distinctive online controversy, another example of Warner Bros. being dinged for doing the right thing, for example, by offering $20-$30 million to a promising non-white director to create an original, star-driven, adult-skewing, R-rated studio film, is being widely condemned. If the Olivia Wilde-directed film does well commercially, receives excellent reviews, and appeals to the masses, the online backlash won’t matter to the rest of us.

Its quality and commercial appeal are unknown to me; Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, and Harry Styles star in it. The history of movies demonstrates that no number of online scandals can stop audiences from seeing a movie. In this case, it becomes even less relevant.

Wilde’s reaction to rumors

In recent interviews, Wilde has continued to discuss the non-story of being served court papers during her CinemaCon appearance. According to rumors, Olivia Wilde and star Florence Pugh have not gotten along on set. The serving party has no control or interest in how or when the papers get served if no laws are broken.

Wilde and the actor have contradicted Wilde’s statement that Shia LaBeouf had been fired to protect her cast. Wilde also shot a video showing her allegedly trying to convince him to stay in despite Pugh’s (Ms. Flo) objections to him remaining in the film. I think it’s great for ‘people are reacting’ media coverage, but will it hurt the movie when it opens next month?

Controversy about various issues

Because conservative pundits complained about the (false) lack of American flags in the Damien Chazalle-directed Neil Armstrong flick, Ryan Gosling’s First Man did not bomb ($105 million on a $59 million budget). A Star Is Born already topped the adult audience’s dance card, and this slow and melancholy astronaut drama wasn’t as crowd-pleasing as Apollo 13.

As a result of online complaints about a same-sex kiss between two married grandmothers, Lightyear flopped. People didn’t want a disconnected origin story from Buzz Lightyear. The already doomed film In the Heights did not suffer from colorism. While Peter Rabbit was embroiled in controversy over food poisoning during its opening weekend, it still earned more than $450 million worldwide and quadrupled its $25 million debut.

What will be the major problem?

Brad Pitt allegedly dumped Jennifer Aniston on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. This star-plus-concept theatrical launched to $50 million domestically and $487 million worldwide, far from the real-life tabloid headlines about him ditching Jennifer Aniston. The most significant problem faced by non-tentpole/non-franchise films is awareness. Audiences who don’t see these movies in theaters don’t see trailers for them.

As the scandalous coverage puts the film on the radar of audiences who don’t watch traditional commercials, that’s a start. Despite the gossip and conjecture, perhaps the film’s buzzy trailer will have the greatest impact on where the Crawdads Sing’s leggy and well-liked theatrical release over the past six weeks.

Jahnavi