Rebel Wilson’s coming-of-age musical “The Deb” has finally made its debut, albeit in a private screening at WME’s offices in Beverly Hills on Monday. The film, which marks Wilson’s directing debut, has been caught in the middle of a legal battle between the “Pitch Perfect” star and a trio of producers – Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and Vince Holden.
Wilson attended the “intimate private” screening, thanking the guests for showing up and urging them “to laugh and cry and feel anything they wanted.” After the credits rolled, Wilson teared up, apparently moved by the crowd’s enthusiastic response. Among the guests were fellow Aussie directors Phillip Noyce and Sophia Banks, as well as representatives from Netflix and Universal.
The legal battle between Wilson and the producers has been anything but low-key, with Wilson accusing the trio of siphoning money from the budget and sexually harassing one of the film’s young stars. The producers, in turn, have sued Wilson for defamation. Wilson has doubled down on her claims and called on Len Blavatnik, the billionaire whose AI Film financed the movie, to “stop funding and protecting” the trio.
Despite the infighting, “The Deb” is expected to be one of the hot sales titles at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it will have its world premiere as the closing night gala on September 15. The producers, however, do not plan on attending any of the TIFF events.
Wilson has also accused Sacha Baron Cohen of sexually harassing her and pressuring her to do nudity on the set of “The Brothers Grimsby” in her memoir “Rebel Rising”. The passages were removed from editions of the book published in the U.K. and Australia, but remain in the U.S. version and other international territories.
“The Deb” centers on a pair of teenage girls preparing to attend a debutante ball in the Australian Outback. It remains unclear if the film’s two main actors will be doing press in Toronto, but if so, they will undoubtedly be asked about the legal back and forth.
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