Anyone But You looks like the kind of movie that only sells by the merit of a single hook, but the movie’s marketing team should probably have a word with the lead actors Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney over their definition of the phrase “hard r.”
The two stars are coming together in a new rom-com that’s apparently going to be R-rated. Anyone But You is the story of two people who apparently hate each other, but of course, we all know how that’s going to end by the time the credits have rolled.
You might find it hard to rightly recall the last time you watched an R-rated romantic comedy, and that’s what distinguishes Anyone But You from a lot of other flicks in this tired genre. Powell and Sweeney are proud of what they’ve accomplished, however, and they recently showed up at CinemaCon along with the movie’s first trailer to promote it.
And that’s where it all went horribly wrong. In a chat with Entertainment Weekly, Powell pitched Anyone But You as a “hard r” movie and Sweeney nodded along enthusiastically, little knowing that the online community was going to double over with laughter because of that particular turn of phrase.
For those of you not in the know, “hard r” is a slang alternative for the N-word, and the fact that two Hollywood celebrities such as Powell and Sweeney didn’t know that is baffling a lot of people, particularly members of the Black community.
No, Glen, that’s not how you describe an R-rated movie.
He even says it twice, with the full confidence of a man who thinks he knows what he’s talking about.
This going viral on social media might be a good sign for a movie that would’ve otherwise faded away into obscurity. And I guess that’s one way to sell a movie, even if unwittingly.