Florence Pugh Had Screaming Matches On The Set Of Don’t Worry Darling
Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde got into a tense screaming match on the set of Don't Worry Darling.
The set of Florence Pugh’s new movie Don’t Worry Darling was apparently just as much of a horror as the movie itself. The star and the movie’s director, Olivia Wilde, are confirmed to have gotten into a screaming match during the movie’s filming in January 2021. Sources confirm that this argument was a symptom of tensions between the two that had to be escalated all the way to the studio executives.
The tension has been attributed to Wilde’s relationship with Harry Styles, which caused a lot of disruption on the set. Styles co-stars with Florence Pugh as her husband, but Wilde’s real-life romance with the singer and actor created workflow issues and interrupted production. This friction was exacerbated by Florence Pugh’s connection to Wilde’s ex, Jason Sudeikis, and the frequent absenteeism of Wilde and Styles. The frustrations erupted into a blowout between the star and the director, leading to Florence Pugh not participating in much of the publicity for the movie.
Florence Pugh is not the only thespian to have had angry feelings about the production of Don’t Worry Darling. Actor Shia La Beouf also had choice words about Olivia Wilde after his departure from the film, releasing private correspondences between him and Wilde that showed contradictions in Wilde’s version of the story. There have been a lot of rumors, confirmed by anonymous sources from the set of the film, that the production was volatile during the entire shoot due to Wilde’s behavior.
Toby Emmerich, who was chief executive of Warner Bros. at the time, had to intervene to ensure the production’s integrity. This included assuring Florence Pugh of the bare minimum of public appearances to promote the film. Co-star Chris Pine has also withdrawn from PR events surrounding the movie, and neither he nor Florence Pugh was present for the film’s New York City opening.
Speculation abounds on whether Wilde has sabotaged her own movie, as she has also been lax in her own promotional duties. A source close to the movie observed to Vulture that “Olivia is either a mad genius who figured out a way to make people more aware of the movie in a way that just drives up the box office… or she doesn’t have any self-awareness that she is f****** up her movie.”
So far, the box office is reflecting the erraticism of the production with numbers that swing from one extreme to the other. A lackluster preview screening the night before its release didn’t do as well as expected, while opening weekend predictions range from $16 million to $27 million on a $35 million production budget. There is cause for concern that all the scandal and drama on-set may have been enough for movie-goers without having to see the movie.
Don’t Worry Darling wouldn’t be the first movie to survive massive pre-production scandals. Films like Twilight Zone and Titanic still succeeded at the box office despite accidents, deaths, and conflict on the set. Opening weekend will be a barometer of the effects of Wilde’s antics.
Florence Pugh is known for her roles in Midsommar and Dune, as well as her appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Widow. Don’t Worry Darling opens in theaters on September 23, 2022.
