CULTURE / AFTER THE SCREENING
Is all publicity (really) good publicity?
When the cast becomes the story, a film can gain attention. Who pays for it?
Sydney Sweeney at Berlinale 2023. Archival portrait, not an Anyone But You campaign image. Photo: Elena Ternovaja / Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sydney_Sweeney_at_Berlinale_2023_(portrait).jpg)
Good for whom?
A film has an opening weekend. Its cast has a Monday morning. When controversy makes a title impossible to ignore, "all publicity is good publicity" sounds neat. The missing bit: good for whom?
Rumours can become an unofficial trailer. No plot, no cinematography, just a seating chart and a comments section with detective ambitions. Curiosity may sell a ticket. It does not automatically sell respect.
Did the drama do the marketing?
At the 2022 Venice premiere of Don't Worry Darling, attention swung from rumours of tension between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh to a clip interpreted online as Harry Styles spitting on Chris Pine. Pine's representative called the latter a "complete fabrication". There was also a public dispute: Wilde said she had fired Shia LaBeouf; he said he had quit. Three kinds of noise, not three established facts.
1 (#publicity-source-1), 6 (#publicity-source-6), 7 (#publicity-source-7) The film opened with an estimated $19.2 million in the US and Canada. Warner Bros. distribution chief Jeff Goldstein called the noise neutral; Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian credited the extra awareness. Same weekend, different verdicts. The box office had receipts. It did not have a control group.
2 (#publicity-source-2) A 2010 study found that negative reviews could help sales of little-known books while hurting established authors. Awareness matters, but books are not film campaigns; going viral is not a business model by itself.
3 (#publicity-source-3)
Can the chaos be on purpose?
Anyone But You offers a different case. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell attracted off-screen romance rumours; Sweeney called them "obviously not true" on Saturday Night Live in March 2024. The next month, Powell told The New York Times they had leaned into audiences wanting their on-screen chemistry off screen. Sweeney, also an executive producer, described her hands-on marketing role.
8 (#publicity-source-8), 9 (#publicity-source-9) Some publicists might pray for that kind of attention. Others might help stage-manage it. Here, the stars themselves described playing along. That supports an argument about controlled ambiguity, not a claim that every scandal is secretly a press release. The comments section can become unpaid distribution. Its contributors rarely invoice.
Who gets the bill?
Before Venice, Florence Pugh told Harper's Bazaar that reducing the film to its sex scenes was not why she worked in the industry. Discussing scrutiny of her private life, she added: "We haven't signed up for a reality TV show." A fairly clear note on the terms and conditions.
4 (#publicity-source-4) Wilde later told Vanity Fair that gossip was overshadowing Pugh's talent and the team's work. Their comments point to a gap: being talked about is not the same as being recognised for the work.
5 (#publicity-source-5) Actors may gain audiences or opportunities from the same attention that brings unwanted scrutiny. Those benefits and costs can coexist. A ticket total cannot measure privacy, or decide whether the trade was fair.
So, worth it?
To what extent, then? Controversy can help a film become known; the case for extra sales is less certain. Calling it good publicity needs more than a trending title. For the actors, whether the gains were worth the cost is theirs to say.
And for an actor, director or anyone behind a release: would you do that for your film to be successful? The moral compass question is who gets a say before someone becomes the campaign.
The film gets to leave the group chat after release. The people in it may still be getting notifications.
Sources AP · Venice premiere, 2022 ↗AP · Opening-weekend estimates, 2022 ↗Berger, Sorensen & Rasmussen · Marketing Science, 2010 ↗Harper's Bazaar · Florence Pugh interview, 2022 ↗Vanity Fair · Olivia Wilde interview, 2022 ↗Variety · Pine representative denial, 2022 ↗Variety · Venice press conference and disputed departure, 2022 ↗The New York Times · Sweeney/Powell marketing interview, 2024 ↗NBC · Sweeney SNL monologue and denial, 2024 ↗