{"id":704170,"date":"2026-05-30T11:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/704170\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T11:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:18:09","slug":"spielbergs-ufo-confusion-tom-hardys-trailer-troubles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/704170\/","title":{"rendered":"Spielberg’s UFO Confusion, Tom Hardy’s Trailer Troubles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LOSER: Tom Hardy<\/a>: Find somebody who loves you the way this man loves a Star Waggon. The actor\u2019s alleged <\/a>behavior on the MobLand set \u2014 refusing to come out of his portable abode for hours at a time, holding up production \u2014 is doubly damaging PR because it\u2019s the same thing he was previously called out<\/a> for on the Mad Max: Fury Road set more than a decade ago (after an hours-long wait, Charlize Theron reportedly yelled at Hardy, \u201cFine the fucking [c-word] a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he\u2019s held up this crew. How disrespectful you are!\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\tBut here\u2019s a telling quote from a source close to the MobLand production: \u201cKeeping\u00a0Pierce <\/a>Brosnan,\u00a0Helen Mirren\u00a0and others waiting is career suicide.\u201d This is such an industry thing to say that people in the industry will miss what\u2019s wrong with it. It should be career suicide to keep any cast and crew waiting for hours while you do \u2026 whatever \u2026 in your trailer. The \u201cBrosnan and Mirren are royalty, how dare he!\u201d stance is another way of saying the more famous you are, the more your feelings matter \u2014 which just keeps this whole entitled actor thing rolling.<\/p>\n

\n\tWINNER: Steven Spielberg<\/a>:\u00a0Have you ever seen a final trailer for a major studio\u2019s event movie that\u2019s narrated by its director? That\u2019s the case for the new trailer for Disclosure Day (don\u2019t watch if you want to avoid spoilers), which has enjoyed one of the weirdest and most freakishly fortuitous marketing campaigns in Hollywood history as the real-life disclosure movement involving government officials claiming a widespread UFO coverup is coinciding with Universal\u2019s promotional push for a movie about the same thing. <\/p>\n

\n\tWith a title that\u2019s thisclose to last fall\u2019s hit UFO documentary, Age of Disclosure<\/a>, Universal has employed a muddy blend of traditional marketing, clips highlighting the director\u2019s personal belief that aliens have likely visited our planet (\u201cI have a very strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now\u201d), and footage in the latest trailer that looks nearly identical to videos the Pentagon declassified<\/a> just last week (for some snark about this, here\u2019s my take<\/a> on those UFOs videos). <\/p>\n

\n\tAll this has been confusing for many \u2014 particularly those who are conspiracy minded. Writer David Koepp has taken pains to say there was no coordination between the production and the government (of course, that\u2019s what they want you to think, right?). Meanwhile, film critics in the usual \u201cfirst reaction\u201d crowd (\u201cHiS BeSt MoViE iN 20 yEaRs<\/a>!\u201d) are over the moon about project (others I trust say Disclosure Day is definitely good \u2014 and has that \u2018ol Spielberg magic \u2014 though aren\u2019t quite as effusive as those early social media reviews).<\/p>\n

\n\tLOSER: Miles Teller<\/a>: You know what gives celebrity news fans joy? A fresh example of the Streisand effect (where a famous person\u2019s attempt to remove information from public view inadvertently causes it to become much more widely known). In this case, Teller griping to IndieWire about a 2015 Esquire<\/a> profile where the journalist repeatedly suggested he was \u201ca dick.\u201d Naturally, this led to the profile being recirculated and many readers concluding that the Top Gun: Maverick actor was, indeed, probably being a bit of a dick (back then, at least).<\/p>\n

\n\tIronically, Teller made his recent comment while doing the sort of press he says he\u2019s largely avoided since the 2015 experience, so who knows how long it will take before the actor sticks his head out again. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that being a good person, that doesn\u2019t sell,\u201d Teller added. \u201cIf you go to bed and put your head on your pillow and how you treat people truly, that\u2019s what matters.\u201d He\u2019s right, of course, and let\u2019s also point out he\u2019s earning raves<\/a> for his performance in James Gray\u2019s Cannes hit Paper Tiger.<\/p>\n

\n\tWINNER: Kane Parsons<\/a>\/Backrooms<\/a>\/A24<\/a> and Curry Barker<\/a>\/Obsession\/Focus Features (again): Social media is having a lot of fun with Disney\u2019s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu getting beaten up by The Rise of the YouTubers, which ironically feels like a group of scrappy, low-budget rebels bringing down the Galactic Empire\u2019s biggest IP.<\/p>\n

\n\tFirst, Parsons\u2019 A24 horror film Backrooms expected to break the studio\u2019s Civil War record with a weekend-topping $40-$50 million opening (Mandalorian and Grogu is predicted to decline a perfectly acceptable 50 percent for weekend two \u2014 despite theater ushers having to wake sleeping parents in their seats after each screening). Based on Parsons\u2019 viral YouTube series and costing less than $10 million, Backrooms has an 87 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and follows a therapist (Renate Reinsve) who enters an alternate dimension after her patient disappears.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, that other YouTuber turned horror sensation, Curry Barker, just saw Obsession top Mandalorian and Grogu on Wednesday amid its gravity-defying third week. Barker is so coveted right now that a certain studio threw him a $10 million<\/a> offer for a movie he hasn\u2019t even pitched yet. Barker\u2019s already under a right-of-first-negotiations deal with Universal\u2019s Blumhouse-Atomic Monster, but now he knows he can get at least $10 mil for literally whatever he thinks of next.<\/p>\n

\n\tWINNER: AI Movies\/Ash Koosha: Industry resistance and ethical concerns were never going to box AI filmmaking out of mainstream pipelines. This week\u2019s example: An entirely AI-generated film will open the Tribeca Film Festival<\/a> next month. Dreams of Violets (trailer below) is a savvy use of the medium \u2014 dramatizing the Iranian regime\u2019s horrific crackdown on protesters last January. The technology allowed filmmaker Ash Koosha to make a 75-minute movie in just three months for $2,000. It\u2019s a compelling example of how AI can be used by a creative who lacks studio resources to tell an important story while the subject is still in the headlines (nobody is going say, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t he just hire a cast and crew and shoot in Iran?\u201d). Thankfully, AI filmmaking is not all Spencer Pratt Batman ads and angry cat barista videos (though this one<\/a> is a personal favorite).<\/p>\n

\n\tRead Last Week\u2019s Column: Winners & Losers: \u2018Masters of the Universe\u2019 Shocks, \u2018The Boys\u2019 Ends Hard, Spencer Pratt Cursed<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n