I somehow missed Ramin Setoodeh‘s 8.29 Newsweek story about the “awkward situation” faced by Fox Searchlight in the selling of The Darjeeling Limited (opening 9.29) in the wake of last weekend’s suicide attempt by costar Owen Wilson.

“If Wilson skips the normal pre-opening publicity duties, journalists will likely become obsessed with his condition — and virtually ignore the movie itself,” Setoodeh surmises. “If he does submit to interviews, journalists will likely become obsessed with his condition — and virtually ignore the movie itself.”

Correction: this syndrome — ignoring the film, feeding off a near-tragedy — will most likely only kick in among empty, parasitic, rancid-soul slimeball journalists who have possibly themselves flirted with suicide.

Movie Marketing Madness blogger Chris Thilk disagrees. “This is going to have a tremendous impact on the film’s marketing,” he telles Newsweek. “If you take Wilson out of the mix, it’s not just the loss of a leading man, it would severely impact the movie’s brand identity.”