Olivia Wilde May Have Abandoned Kerri Strug Gymnastics Biopic, ‘Perfect,’ After Several Rewrites and ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ Drama
Olivia Wilde has come face-to-face with her fair share of drama amid her latest film Don’t Worry Darling. Starring Harry Styles and Florence Pugh, the psychological-thriller hit theaters on September 23.
Amid the spiraling publicity surrounding the new movie, some now speculate that Wilde is choosing to abandon her next project, a gymnastics biopic titled Perfect.
‘Perfect’: premise, cast, and Olivia Wilde’s involvement in the film
In 2020, Searchlights Pictures closed a global rights deal for Perfect. The biopic focuses on Olympic gold medalist Kerri Strug, per The Wrap. Shortly after, Olivia Wilde was announced as the director, coming on the heels of her successful coming-of-age film, Booksmart.
Perfect is set to star Thomasin McKenzie, whose breakout role was in Taika Waititi’s oscar-nominated film Jojo Rabbit. Additionally, she starred in Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace and Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho. The film also added The Handmaid’s Tale star, McKenna Grace, to the cast, though her role remains unknown.
Ronnie Sandahl wrote the script. Wilde and Sandahl were set to serve as executive producers alongside Deepak Nayar and Marisa Clifford. Perfect was last known to be in pre-production, with filming supposed to begin in 2022. However, no further updates have surfaced in recent months.
Olivia Wilde has reportedly walked away from ‘Perfect’ amid the ongoing ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ drama
With its director and leading actor locked down, Perfect was seemingly well on its way to smooth production. But behind the scenes, it appears as though things were far from “perfect.”
Back in August, Wilde told Variety that she had made the decision to push back her third directorial project in order to spend time with her two children: “It became clear to me that this year was a time for me to be a stay-at-home mom. It was not the year for me to be on a set, which is totally all-encompassing. It was time for me to pause and devote myself to the kids when I have them.”
Since then, things have gotten even more complicated. More recently, rumors have surfaced that Wilde is stepping back from Perfect amid the ongoing drama.
From Shia LeBeouf speaking out against claims that Wilde fired him from the movie to speculation of a secret feud between the director and Pugh, Don’t Worry Darling is well on its way to becoming the most talked-about film of 2022.
And according to an anonymous source, the nonstop media firestorm surrounding Don’t Worry Darling has bled over into her future projects. As reported by The New York Times, Wilde is allegedly stepping away from Perfect after asking for multiple rewrites from different screenwriters. This led her to believe the script was still not ready for production.
For now, these rumors have yet to be confirmed. But considering all the Don’t Worry Darling noise, on top of its lackluster reviews (just 35% on Rotten Tomatoes), it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Wilde needed a break from the spotlight.
Or, perhaps, some significant issues exist with the Perfect script, and Wilde simply had to push back the movie’s filming schedule to tighten up the story.
Other projects Olivia Wilde is attached to
According to the NY Times, Wilde currently has two projects in early development: a new Sony/Marvel movie, which two people close to the feature said was Spider-Woman, and a still-untitled holiday comedy with Universal Pictures.
Perfect is still listed as being in pre-production, with Wilde still credited as its director. As for her other upcoming projects, everything seems business as usual.
The House alum teased her Sony/Marvel collaboration during an August interview with Variety, via CBR. She said of the story:
“I think the Marvel approach of allowing newer filmmakers to come into the fold and have access to those tools of the Marvel Universe is incredibly exciting. I am a big fan of what they’re doing over there, but, yeah, I can’t confirm whether that [project] is what [it] is. But that would be cool.”
