Warner Bros.’s “audacious, complex, and aesthetically spectacular psychological thriller,” directed by Olivia Wilde, grossed $30 million in its first weekend overseas. The film’s first weekend took in an estimated $19.2 million in the United States and another $10.8 million from other markets. Alice and Jack, played by Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, are a young couple who live in the utopian community of Victory, described as “an experimental business town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families.” Pine portrays the cultish CEO of the firm.
The ladies “spend their time enjoying the beauty, elegance, and depravity of their town” while their husbands are at work. When problems start to arise in their otherwise perfect existence, “Alice can’t help but doubt just what they’re doing in Victory, and why.” The film’s opening weekend of $30 million is respectable but not exceptional. Especially so when you consider that the majority of critics have panned it and opening day viewers gave it a B- CinemaScore. Younger viewers were generally more positive about the film, however, this might be attributed to the Styles effect. Brian Formo described it as a “superficial matinée thriller” that “doesn’t sting as it should in the end.”
Don’t Panic Joining Wilde and Chris Pine in Darling are Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Kate Berlant. After much controversy involving an alleged falling out between Wilde and her actress, Pugh, the $35 million original picture, which was evocative of Stepford Wives, opened at the current Venice Film Festival. Wilde has publicly praised Pugh, but the actor has been inexplicably missing from the film’s promotional tour and has been very selective in his social media promotion of the picture.
Many speculations have been made concerning the alleged backstage turmoil, but official word has been scarce. According to Matthew Libatique, the cinematographer, the set environment was “remarkably harmonic.” This was reported in The Hollywood Reporter. Don’t Panic The fact that Darling’s worldwide take is comparable to Disney’s re-release of James Cameron’s Avatar this weekend is indicative of the franchise’s continued success.
It’s also encouraging for Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel coming out in December. Dramas and first-run features aimed squarely at an adult audience have excelled this year. The Northman, Ambulance, and Beast fared exceptionally well on PVOD, but critically acclaimed films such as Elvis, Nope, The Black Phone, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dog, and last week’s The Woman King were also highly received. Wilde’s directorial debut, the coming-of-age comedy Booksmart, was a smashing success, and Don’t Worry Darling is an audacious effort to prove to moviegoers that she can handle a wide range of genres and subject matters. Over 4,100 cinemas in North America are showing the picture right now.