VENICE, Italy (AP) – The Venice Film Festival is buzzing with anticipation for Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling,” which will have its world premiere Monday night at the Lido.
By 8am on Monday, dozens of Harry Styles fans were camping outside the theater where the premiere was to be held that night and excitement was high for the pop star’s arrival, fame and following another world can make Timothée Chalamet’s mania seen on Friday seem downright quaint.
Many eyes were also on the film’s press conference, hoping that reports of backstage tension with star Florence Pugh would be addressed or cleared up. Wilde, before the premiere, said that he did not want to contribute to “the endless gossip of the tabloids” and “the noise”.
“The Internet feeds on itself,” Wilde said. “I don’t need to contribute, I think he’s very well nurtured.”
Pugh is in the middle of production on the blockbuster “Dune 2” (also a Warner Bros. set) and is expected to return immediately after his Venice duties. Although he was the star of the film, he did not attend the press conference because his flight had not yet landed.
“Florence is a force to be reckoned with and we’re so grateful she can do it tonight,” Wilde said. “As a director, I know how disruptive it is to lose an actor even for a day.”
Behind-the-scenes drama rarely extends beyond insider industry gossip, but the question of what exactly went into the making of “Don’t Worry Darling” has become a source of global intrigue. The lack of clarity about everything from Shia LaBeouf’s exit from the film early on, to Pugh’s perceived lack of public support for the project on his social media accounts, have long been buzzing on TikTok and Twitter and then favored by a report in the Hollywood Bulletin. Puck, citing various production sources and anonymous studies.
Wilde, meanwhile, has been nothing but effusive about her lead actor. In an interview with The Associated Press, he spoke at length about Pugh’s extraordinary talent saying that what she did with the role was “singularly brilliant” and that the character of Alice is a “heroine forever”.
Still, questions remain as to why Pugh hasn’t posted much about the film on her Instagram. He did not release the trailer, nor did he say anything about entering Venice.
It’s worth noting that Pugh’s “Dune 2” co-star Chalamet had a similarly brief stay in Venice for his film “Bones and All.” It’s likely the only appearance he’ll make on behalf of this film, but no one wrote any headlines about Chalamet “limiting” his press engagements.
Wilde herself also became a fixture in the tabloids after the paparazzi caught wind of her off-screen relationship with Styles. And then there was the moment at CinemaCon, when her ex Jason Sudeikis handed Wilde the custody papers during a presentation about his film on stage in front of thousands of industry professionals and theater owners
Then, over the past few weeks, it seemed like all the steaks had caught fire at once. Much of this was encouraged by LaBeouf, who came out of the woodwork to dispute a two-year-old narrative that he had been fired from the project. Ultimately, his role went to Styles.
Wilde, in a Variety cover story, is not directly quoted as saying she fired him. She did offer, “His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that somehow seems to require a combative energy, and I personally don’t think that’s conducive for the best performances”.
In response, LaBeouf sent private emails, text messages and video messages to Variety to prove his case that he actually quit due to lack of rehearsal time. The video message, in which he tries to convince LaBeouf to stick with Jack, was later leaked online in which he calls Pugh “Miss Flo”.
The moderator of the press conference cut off a reporter trying to ask about LaBeouf, saying that Wilde had already answered it in his comment about “tabloids” and noise.
LaBeouf, who will go to court next year over allegations of abuse by his ex, FKA twigs, will also be in Venice this year with the film “Padre Pio.”
The press conference stuck to the themes of the film, a mid-century-style psychological thriller about a perfect couple Alice (Pugh) and her husband Jack (Styles) who live in an experimental community in the desert.
“We were really interested in the kind of problematic nature of nostalgia itself,” Wilde said. “In this film everything is a metaphor… everything that is beautiful is also sinister. That’s by design.”
The film is screening out of competition at the festival before its theatrical release on September 23.
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Follow AP film writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
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For more information on the Venice Film Festival, visit: www.apnews.com/VeniceFilmFestival