EXCLUSIVE: It’s taking a little longer to sell Olivia Wilde’s hot sexual comedy The Invite, we hear, and that’s because Warner Bros‘ new contemporary film label headed by former Neon marketing guru Christian Parkes put in a last-minute bid against A24 and Focus Features. Now it’s a three-horse race.
Warner Bros didn’t return request for comment, but we hear this one is a real nailbiter. It would return Wilde back to her Don’t Worry Darling Warner Bros home should the Burbank, CA lot prevail (that pic by the way was a New Line release, a package which they won at auction against 18 bidders).
The Wilde-directed romantic comedy follows two couples, one set played by Wilde and Seth Rogen whose marriage is in a rut. They entertain their upstairs guests, a couple played by Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz; a twosome who are intriguing and enjoy experimenting sexually. All of this takes place in the former’s San Francisco apartment. The pic drew great laughs at its Sundance premiere at the Eccles Theatre on Saturday night which is why many jumped on it. It’s arguable we haven’t seen a festival crowd-pleaser like this since 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once at SXSW (which was an A24 release, not an acquisition title) or Triangle of Sadness at Cannes (which Neon acquired domestic on).
Previous bidders on the project included Netflix, Neon, and Searchlight. Word was that Wilde wanted a theatrical release, her feature directorial debut Booksmart going through Amazon back in 2019, while Don’t Worry Darling had a near $20M opening at the fall 2022 box office, juiced by leading man Harry Styles.
Wilde told Deadline Awards Editor Antonia Blyth at Sundance that the premiere “was the best night of my life, it was so fun. To sit and laugh with that audience was just so wonderful, so full of joy, I was just levitating in my seat.”
Wilde shot the The Invite in chronological order approaching the Rashida Jones and Will McCormack adapted movie like a play.
The fire for The Invite began with Oscar-nominated Hacksaw Ridge producer David Permut who secured rights to Cesc Gay’s Spanish comedy The People Upstairs. Permut shepherded the project through the strikes as castmembers became attached and fell out, ultimately building toward the package that is with Wilde directing. Permut met Jones and McCormack at Sundance 2012 when they had their scripted feature Celeste & Jesse Forever (which also starred Jones) at the fest.
Earlier today we told you that Neon took global on the Australian Sundance Midnight section movie Leviticus from Adrian Chiarella which reps Mia Wasikowska’s return to the big screen after a three-year break.
We also told you first about Warner Bros’ new contemporary label, which has yet to be named. The label which was formed by Parkes and his Neon colleagues Jason Wald and Spener Collantes, focuses on smartly budgeted global theatrical releases with innovative marketing campaigns.
