For the first few days of this year’s Sundance, we heard near-constant patter about how in-demand the latest Olivia Wilde film was among distributors. The film premiered on Saturday night, and Deadline reported on Monday that A24, Netflix, Searchlight, Focus Features, Black Bear and Neon were among the distributors in the mix with bids quickly exceeding distribution rights to the film. The bidding war was still raging as of yesterday afternoon when, per Deadline, Warner Bros. “new contemporary film label” tossed its hat in the ring. However, this morning, A24 has emerged victorious, and will distribute The Invite after an eight-figure bid, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That trade suggests that the deal is unlikely to be surpassed at this year’s festival.
It’s not hard to imagine why the project would attract so much attention, given the names attached to it. Starring and directed by Wilde, The Invite comes from a script written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack and also stars Seth Rogen, Ed Norton, Penelope Cruz. The sexual rom-com is a remake of the Spanish language film Sentimental, and sees Rogen and Wilde play a married couple on the rocks who host a dinner party with a communicative and passionate couple portrayed by Norton and Cruz.
Describing the premiere as “the best night of my life,” Wilde told Deadline that “What this project taught me was it’s actually OK to have non-negotiables going into something… this time I was like, ‘Guys, what if we just do it the way we’ve always wanted to do it?’ And it was so rewarding that it made me think, that’s what I want to do. It’s impossible. It’ll never happen again. But I’m really happy.” The Invite is Wilde’s third directorial effort, after 2019’s Booksmart and 2023’s Don’t Worry Darling.
