Today's reminder that there is nothing Hollywood won't cash in on, up to and including the delegitimization of the media: A series of fake news websites and articles have been created by movie studios 20th Century Fox and New Regency in a bid to promote their upcoming thriller, A Cure For Wellness.

One story, appearing on the Sacramento Dispatch website, claimed that Donald Trump held a meeting with Vladimir Putin at a remote Swiss clinic in the run-up to the election last year. The article, which echoes the plot of A Cure For Wellness, is no longer live, and the Sacramento Dispatch URL now redirects to the movie's website.

The Hollywood Reporter

Also revealed to be part of the same campaign is a Houston Leader report that Lady Gaga was planning to include a tribute to Muslims in her Super Bowl performance, which BuzzFeed News reports was the biggest hit by far in terms of clicks. One story claimed that Donald Trump would impose a temporary ban on vaccinations; another reported that a man had been left in a catatonic state after watching A Cure For Wellness. The five outlets confirmed to have been created as part of the publicity hoax areSacramento Dispatch, Houston Leader, Salt Lake City Guardian, NY Morning Post, andIndianapolis Gazette.

Directed by Gore Verbinski, A Cure For Wellness follows a young man (Dane DeHaan) who travels to a mysterious Alpine clinic in search of his company's missing CEO, and discovers that its treatments are not precisely what they seem.

"A Cure for Wellness is a movie about a 'fake' cure that makes people sicker," Fox said in a statement. "As part of this campaign, a 'fake' wellness site healthandwellness.co was created and we partnered with a fake news creator to publish fake news. As our movie's antagonist says, 'There is a sickness inside us. And only when we know what ails us, can we hope to find the cure."

In other words, this is a pretty tenuous way to exploit the climate of fear and uncertainty in "post-fact" America. Slow clap.

Emma Dibdin Contributor Emma Dibdin writes about television, movies, and podcasts, with coverage including opinion essays, news posts, episodic reviews and in-depth interviews with creatives.

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