20 Films That Survived Wild Production Problems
Don’t Worry Darling opens in theaters this week, offering us our first chance to find out if the film is better and more entertaining than the production-related drama that has been chasing it for months. Of course, the production was plagued with COVID-related delays, but also with at least one major casting conflict: Shia LeBeouf, the film’s original male lead, left the production after principal photography began. At the time, the studio cited “scheduling conflicts”; Director Olivia Wilde has since stated that his behavior on set was the cause of the problems. LeBeouf himself says he’s gone, but the actor’s reputation isn’t exactly perfect . Rumors then circulated that star Florence Pugh had fallen out with Wilde; Wilde received custody papers in the midst of her presentation of the film at CinemaCon; and finally, there were rumors that star Harry Styles allegedly spat on a bored co-star Chris Pine in Venice… which, of course, didn’t happen, but it has dominated film discussion ever since.
While movies like this are a huge headache for filmmakers, we love them — or at least the stories behind them. There’s nothing better than a troubled production story to keep us interested in a film.