Don’t Worry Darling made its theatrical premiere this Friday (September 23) and has hit $19.2 million in its North American opening weekend. Despite the drama surrounding its cast members and negative reviews, the 1950s-set psychological thriller added another $10.8 million internationally for a global tally of $30 million. Not terrible for a movie that has had a lot of negative press surrounding it.
Wilde has worked to shut down rumors of a feud between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh after Pugh was not promoting Don’t Worry Darling on social media. There have also ben rumors of pay disparity among the different cast members. Wilde addressed the latter rumors last month. “There has been a lot out there that I largely don’t pay attention to. But the absurdity of invented clickbait and subsequent reaction regarding a nonexistent pay disparity between our lead and supporting actors really upset me. I’m a woman who has been in this business for over 20 years, and it’s something that I have fought for myself and others, especially being a director. There is absolutely no validity to those claims.”
Additionally, Wilde said to Vanity Fair of Pugh’s silence on promoting the film to her being “one of the most in-demand actresses in the universe. She’s on set on Dune. I gather that some people expect for her to be engaging more on social media. I didn’t hire her to post. I hired her to act. She fulfilled every single expectation I had of her. That’s all that matters to me.”
As far as the alleged Spitgate at the Venice Film Festival where it appeared as though Styles spit on Pine, the cast members have all denied it taking place. Following the premiere, a representative for Pine firmly denied that the incident happened. “This is a ridiculous story — a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation,” Pine’s rep said in a statement. “Just to be clear, Harry Styles did not spit on Chris Pine. There is nothing but respect between these two men and any suggestion otherwise is a blatant attempt to create drama that simply does not exist.”
Styles also addressed the spit-take during one of his New York City concerts saying to the crowd, “It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York. I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.” He added while laughing, “But fret not, we’re back.”
Take a look at scenes from Don’t Worry Darling below:
