While most movies tend to have some buzz and rumors swirling around pre-premiere, few have been as all over the place as Don’t Worry Darling. It seemed as if every day leading up to the premiere brought more scandal and more conflicting information. Twitter users watching and rewatching a 5 second clip from as many angles as possible to see if Harry Styles actually spit on Chris Pine or not. And while it’s true that people were talking about the actors and actresses of the film, who attended the premier, and the cast's relationships after filming, there was a level of uncertainty if this kind of publicity would be good for the movie itself. And despite a lackluster Rotten Tomatoes review of the film, Don’t Worry Darling managed a $19.2 million debut September 23-25.
With just the sheer amount of information that came up seemingly all at once, it begs the question, is it possible some of the sequence of events leading up to the film were staged to generate hype? Many of us have heard the statement “all publicity is good publicity”. But lately this doesn’t always seem to be the case (for instance, influencers being “canceled” due to bad choices/publicity). And if the drama was strategic, do you guys think it’s an effective way to engage the audience/get people off streaming and into the theater for your film? Or do you think the publicity drama will end up outshining the movie?
April O'Neil