Shifting Audience Expectations
Director Will Gluck recently opened up about the creative choices behind his latest romantic comedy, One Night Only, starring Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro. According to the filmmaker, the project underwent significant editing to remove various explicit sequences that were originally intended for the final cut.
Gluck noted that modern theatrical audiences seem to have developed a different relationship with adult content on the big screen compared to previous years. «I believe it’s been a societal shift from taking nudity in adult situations and putting them on your phones at home for everybody,» the director observed. «It’s more of a private, intimate thing that people don’t want to see when they’re in a shared experience. Whenever people now see nudity or very adult situations in a big theater, they get uncomfortable.»
The Decision to Trim the Narrative
During the editing process, Gluck opted to remove a substantial amount of footage that was captured on location. The original vision for the film included a more graphic portrayal of its urban setting, but testing the movie with audiences convinced the director that these scenes distracted from the core narrative.
«There was so much nudity in this movie that we shot on the streets. I felt we needed to show the world that way,» Gluck explained. «As we started to show it to audiences, we felt it takes you out of the movie.»
Behind the Scenes of the 'Night of Freedom'
One Night Only centers on the story of Allie (Barbaro) and Owen (Turner) as they navigate a chaotic New York City during a fictional annual event where premarital intimacy is treated with casual legality. To populate this world, the production team utilized real-life couples as background actors to add authenticity to the environment.
«We cast real-life couples in various stages of relationships,» Gluck shared. «It was fun because there were married couples, people who broke up during the movie and people who became couples, so they could do that.»
Focusing on Character Over Premise
Despite the high-concept nature of the film's premise, Gluck emphasized that the story is fundamentally about the personal journeys of the two leads rather than the mechanics of the world they inhabit.
«[The cast] goes on talk shows and spends 80 percent of the time explaining the rules of the world, and that’s not what the movie is about,» he said. «We have to just let people see it. I didn’t want the movie to be about that. It’s more about how our characters navigate life.»
One Night Only is currently playing in theaters.