As Paramount gears up for the December launch of Babylon, its big-budget prestige swing, the studio has to contest with headlines about its leading man, Brad Pitt.

Instead of chatter about the star’s first awards hopeful since he won an Oscar for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the actor is facing accusations about a 2016 altercation on an airplane involving then-wife Angelina Jolie.

They have come to light amid a legal dispute over the French winery Château Miraval, which they had owned together.

A countersuit filed Oct. 4 by Jolie detailed the incident on a private plane during which Jolie says Pitt abused her and some of their children. The FBI launched an investigation over the incident in 2016 but declined to press charges, while a rep for Pitt stated that Jolie “continues to rehash, revise and reimagine” the altercation.

Fewer women reported interest in seeing a film starring the actor compared with men, with 49 percent of women saying they were “somewhat” or “very” interested in seeing a film starring Pitt, compared with 56 percent of men. Breaking down responses by age, two-thirds of those 35-to-44 (66 percent) said they were “somewhat” or “very” interested in seeing a film starring Pitt, compared with 54 percent of those 18-to-34 and 50 percent of 45-to-64.

The perception of older audiences is important, considering the demo was seen as a driver behind the success of Pitt’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ($142 million domestic) and Bullet Train ($103 million domestic).

Paramount recently scheduled Babylon — which also stars Margot Robbie and has a run time of about three hours and an expected R rating — for a Dec. 23 wide release, moving it up from a Christmas Day limited release with a January expansion.

It will now share theaters with Avatar: The Way of Water, which opens wide Dec. 16, and the animated Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, both out December 21.