Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
16 Times a Movie’s Alleged Behind-The-Scenes Drama Outshone the Film
Rumors about alleged affairs, feuds, etc. can bring a lot of attention to a film. Sometimes, however, the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding a movie overshadows the onscreen drama.
Here are 16 movies that are remembered more for their behind-the-scenes drama than the actual plot line:
1. It Ends With Us (2024), which is based on the novel by Colleen Hoover, is about a flower shop owner who navigates an abusive relationship and the generational cycle of domestic violence. However, rumors of an alleged feud between lead actor Blake Lively and director/costar Justin Baldoni have seemingly dominated discourse about the movie.
Fans have speculated there may be a feud because Baldoni didn’t walk the premiere red carpet or do press alongside his castmates. However, he told a red carpet reporter that he wanted the premiere to celebrate women, not himself.
Cindy Ord / Getty Images, Gotham / WireImage / Via Getty
At the premiere, he told Entertainment Tonight, “This isn’t my night — this is a night for all the women who we made this movie for. This is a night for Blake, this is a night for Colleen. I’m just so grateful that we’re here, five years in the making.”
Sources alleged to The Hollywood Reporter that, during post-productions, the filmmakers disagreed, resulting in two different cuts. Multiple sources told the outlet that Lively had Shane Reid, who edited Deadpool & Wolverine as well as “I Bet You Think About Me” (the Taylor Swift music video Lively directed), do a cut of the movie.
As a producer, Lively contributed to the movie’s creative direction.
Her husband, Ryan Reynolds, also got involved with the script.
She told E! News, “We help each other. We work together so much. The iconic rooftop scene in this movie — my husband actually wrote it…He works on everything I do. I work on everything he does. So his wins, his celebrations are mine, and mine are his. I mean, he’s all over this film.” Sony Pictures Releasing /Courtesy Everett Collection
At the premiere, Baldoni shot down the idea of directing and starring in the sequel, telling Entertainment Tonight, “I think there are better people for that one. I think Blake Lively’s ready to direct. That’s what I think.”
However, the film and its press tour have also garnered criticism for the way they approach the themes of domestic violence.
You can read a full breakdown here.
Sony Pictures Releasing / Courtesy Everett Collection
2. Don’t Worry Darling (2022) is about a housewife who discovers her seemingly perfect town isn’t quite what it seems, but chatter around the movie’s release seemed more focused on a rumored feud between lead actor Florence Pugh and director Olivia Wilde, who was dating lead actor Harry Styles at the time.
In July 2022, a purported source alleged to Page Six, “I can tell you for a fact that Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well as Olivia was still with Jason [Sudeikis] when she first hooked up with Harry.”
Likewise, in August 2022, a source alleged to Us Weekly, “Florence and Olivia have had several disagreements personally and professionally, that’s why Florence isn’t doing any press for the movie.”
Merrick Morton /© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
Wilde and Pugh seemed to publicly disagree about discourse surrounding the film’s sex scenes.
In January 2022, Wilde told Vogue, “I kept saying, ‘Why isn’t there any good sex in film anymore?'” She also said she wants to make her audience “realize how rarely they see female hunger, and specifically this type of female pleasure.”
Then, in August 2022, Pugh told Harper’s Bazaar, “When it’s reduced to your sex scenes, or to watch the most famous man in the world go down on someone, it’s not why we do it. It’s not why I’m in this industry. Obviously, the nature of hiring the most famous pop star in the world, you’re going to have conversations like that. That’s just not what I’m going to be discussing because [this movie is] bigger and better than that. And the people who made it are bigger and better than that.” Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection
Fans also pointed out how Pugh rarely posted about the film, and when Wilde made a post praising her, she didn’t publicly acknowledge it.
In August 2022, Wilde told Variety she fired Shia LaBeouf, who was initially cast in Styles’s role, to “protect” the rest of her cast from his “combative energy.” However, he denied her version of events.
She told Variety, “I say this as someone who is such an admirer of his work. His process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances. I believe that creating a safe, trusting environment is the best way to get people to do their best work. Ultimately, my responsibility is to the production and to the cast to protect them. That was my job.
A lot came to light after this happened that really troubled me, in terms of his behavior. I find myself just really wishing him health and evolution because I believe in restorative justice. But for our film, what we really needed was an energy that was incredibly supportive. Particularly with a movie like this, I knew that I was going to be asking Florence to be in very vulnerable situations, and my priority was making her feel safe and making her feel supported.”
In December 2020, FKA Twigs, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend, sued him for alleged assault, sexual battery, and inflicting emotional distress. In an email, LaBeouf told Variety that he “quit the film due to lack of rehearsal time.” He sent Variety emails and texts that he and Wilde allegedly exchanged.
In a video Wilde allegedly sent him, she said, “I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I, too, am heartbroken, and I want to figure this out. You know, I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo, and I want to know if you’re open to giving this a shot with me, with us. If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point, and if you guys can make peace — and I respect your point of view, I respect hers — but if you guys can do it, what do you think? Is there hope? Will you let me know?”
And the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival was also riddled with drama (some of it completely made up by viewers). The most notable moment was “Spitgate,” when fans speculated that Styles spit on costar Chris Pine, whose rep denied the “ridiculous story.”
In a statement to Variety, they said, “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, 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.”
In October 2022, costar Nick Kroll told The Hollywood Reporter, “The Don’t Worry Darling trailer came out, and people were excited about it. People have been thinking about this movie for a while. Then all of the mishegas happens, the drama around the movie started to take hold, and I was not a part of any of that. I’m not distancing myself at all, I just wasn’t doing press at that point. My first exposure to it all was literally on the red carpet in Venice, and I was like, ‘Ohhhh, I think people might be interested in this.’ And I was right.” Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images
3. Anyone But You (2023) is a loose Much Ado About Nothing retelling with a lovers-to-enemies-back-to-lovers main couple who reunite during a wedding. Ahead of the movie’s release, fans speculated that lead actors Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, who were both in relationships with other people at the time, were allegedly having an affair.
Powell’s then-girlfriend, Gigi Paris, seemingly unfollowed Sweeney on Instagram, adding fuel to the fire.
Sony Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
In August 2023, Sweeney told Variety, “It’s a rom-com. That’s what people want! Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker. We’re excited for the press tour, and I literally just left ADR with him. We talk all the time like, ‘That’s really funny.'”
Then, that December, she told Glamour UK, “It was really hard on Glen, which made me sad… because [otherwise] it was such a beautiful experience for the both of us. I care for him so much…Also, I’ve never really shared that much [about my relationship], so the press loves to create drama in stories.” Brook Rushton / © Sony Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
However, in 2024, Powell revealed that playing into the rumors to promote the film had been Sweeney’s idea.
He told the New York Times, “The two things that you have to sell a rom-com are fun and chemistry. Sydney and I have a ton of fun together, and we have a ton of effortless chemistry. That’s people wanting what’s on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully. Sydney is very smart.” Sony Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
4. I Heart Huckabees (2004) is an independent comedy about a detective duo whose investigations center on “universal interconnectivity.” It was overshadowed by two videos of an argument between actor Lily Tomlin and director David O. Russell that were leaked and went viral on YouTube.
In his expletive-laden rant, Russell berated Tomlin, called her names, and insisted he was only trying to “help” her.
Russell’s angry outburst came back to haunt him when he received a career tribute award at the 2012 IFP Gotham Awards. Comedian and host Mike Birbiglia recited the director’s tirade as part of his opening monologue — but Russell took it in stride.
Theo Wargo / Getty Images for IFP, Larry Busacca / Getty Images for IFP
He told Vulture, “It’s old news! What are you going to do? I take it in good fun. You have to laugh at your mistakes.”
In 2015, Tomlin told the Hollywood Reporter that they “made up in just a few hours, and then [they] had a second fracas.”
She continued, “By then, I was like stoic in my suffering. But we’ve overcome it. It dissipates and it’s gone. I was doing The Search [ for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe ] downtown every day when we were shooting. So I’d have to leave at five and head downtown. So I was probably overextended. But it wasn’t any big deal.”
5. Suicide Squad (2016) follows Harley Quinn and her fellow DC supervillains. However, a lot of conversation about the movie surrounded the antics
