As the Venice Film Festival continues, the stars of the new film Don’t Worry Darling Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine were the talk of Lido as the film had its world premiere on Monday.
The science-fiction period drama film is the second by director and actor Olivia Wilde from a screenplay by Katie Silberman. The film has been getting a lot of free publicity due to a cacophony of rumors surrounding suspected on-set tensions, Pugh’s relative silence in promoting the movie, and some odd moments from Venice itself.
At the press conference for Don’t Worry Darling held yesterday, reporters quickly noticed that Pugh wasn’t present. Some quickly theorized that this was due to animosity, though it was later revealed that she simply hadn’t landed in Venice yet as she was flying in from the set of Dune: Part Two which is currently filming in Budapest.
Wilde praised Pugh during the press conference and also referred to rumors of tensions between them. “As for all the endless tabloid gossip and noise both there, the internet feeds itself,” Wilde told reporters. “I don’t feel I need to contribute to it. It’s sufficiently well-nourished.”
Pugh eventually landed in Lido and had a much-discussed red carpet appearance in an extravagant sheer Valentino gown.
During Pugh’s absence, her male co-stars even became the subject of a few memes and internet conspiracies. One shot of Pine listening with a great poker face as Styles says he loves DWD because “it feels like a movie,” is being shared widely.
Some fans even began dissecting a clip of the actors taking their seats in the premiere because they thought that Styles had actually spit on Pine. While the timing of Pine’s reaction and Styles’ mouth movement does illicit some suspicion, it would still be an insanely outlandish move to attempt while surrounded by cameras at your film’s world premiere.
Don’t Worry Darling also stars Nick Kroll, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne and Kate Berlant. It will be released in theaters on September 23 and does not yet have a streaming premiere date announced.
