Olivia Wilde is all smiles these days as she bids to reinvent herself and repair burned bridges all over Hollywood — but a lot of people aren’t buying it, sources exclusively tell Life & Style.
The actress and director, 40, made constant headlines during the lead-up to the release of her second directorial film, Don’t Worry Darling, in which she also starred. Before it hit theaters in September 2022, Olivia fired actor Shia LaBeouf, who was later replaced by Harry Styles. Then, Olivia and Harry, 30, eventually found themselves in a relationship following her split from Jason Sudeikis, who served his ex custody papers during a high-profile promotional event for the film.
Rumors later swirled that Olivia and actress Florence Pugh were at odds throughout the film’s press tour, and it appeared there was tension among the cast when a clip went viral that seemed to show Harry spitting on costar Chris Pine (though all have denied “spitgate” to be true).
Now, a high-level studio insider tells Life & Style, “Olivia has spent the last several months doing the studio rounds and taking the temperature a year after the Don’t Worry Darling debacle, and when she sat down with studio bosses, she turned on the charm and told her side of the story of why her second movie as a director was such an across-the-board loser.”
While Don’t Worry Darling received mixed reviews after such a high-profile promotional period, Olivia is ready to get back in the director’s chair — and is hoping for a better experience this time around, sources say.
“Quite frankly, only some people who have encountered the ‘new’ Olivia are eating up this personality turnaround, but Olivia’s plan has worked: she’s got a new movie to direct and she’s got the two hottest producers in town, Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley, and the hottest studio in town, Universal, backing it,” notes an insider.
Olivia is reportedly attached to direct Naughty, a Christmas comedy with Margot, Tom and Josey McNamara producing through their LuckyChap production company.
However, the source notes, “The studio that made Don’t Worry and Tom and Margot’s Barbie, Warner Bros., is pointedly not involved, and it certainly helps that the studio head at Universal, Donna Langley, is a woman and is known for having a soft spot for Christmas movies.”
The insider adds, “Olivia will live to fight another day, but her big problem is that it’s just as easy for her to make enemies as it is to make friends.”
