Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton in “The Invite.”
A24
The Invite, director Olivia Wilde’s acclaimed comedy drama in which she stars alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz, arrives on digital streaming this week.
The Invite opened in limited release on June 26 and expanded to theaters nationwide on July 10. Rogen and Wilde play Jill and Angela, who are going through bumps in their marriage. However, when the invite couple living upstairs from them — Hawk (Norton) and Piña (Cruz) — to dinner, the night takes a stranger turn with enigmatic couple than Joe and Angela expected.
Based on Cesc Gay’s 2020 Spanish film The People Upstairs, the screenplay for The Invite was adapted by actor-filmmakers Will McCormack and Rashida Jones.
The Invite had a solid run in theaters, earning nearly $24.3 million domestically and $18.6 million internationally for a worldwide box office tally of $42.9 million. According to the IMDb, The Invite had an estimated production budget of $12 million before marketing costs.
The Invite also won critics and audiences over on Rotten Tomatoes, earning a 97% “fresh” critics’ score based on 267 reviews and an 89% “fresh” Popcornmeter score based on 1,000-plus verified user ratings.
The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, “Perversely funny while giving its quartet of fine actors some of their best material yet, The Invite is a sophisticated farce that reaffirms Olivia Wilde as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.”
The reception of The Invite is doubt exciting to Wilde, who told the crowd at a screening of the film at the 79th Locarno Film Festival on Saturday (via The Hollywood Reporter) that she had to fight to get the film released in theaters instead of having it premiere on a streaming platform.
“They bribe you to not take theatrical,” Wilde told the festival crowd. “We have to fight for it to have a run in theaters.”
However, Wilde said, the offer to go the streaming route instead of theatrical is of little benefit to the filmmaker.
“It’s a bribe. They pay you more,” Wilde told the Locarno crowd (via THR). “Not the filmmaker, no; the financiers will get a lot more money to go to streaming, and you can take that bribe and give that up if that’s where your priorities lie. But we were really lucky that our financier gave me the opportunity to make this decision, which is something I don’t take lightly. She could have very easily said no.”
Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde in “The Invite.”
A24
‘The Invite’ Arrives On PVOD On Tuesday
The Invite will be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Tuesday, Aug. 11, a new listing on Prime Video confirms.
The Invite will be available to purchase on PVOD for $24.99 on such digital platforms as Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango at Home and YouTube Movies & TV. The film is also available to rent for a 48-hour period for $19.99.
Rated R, The Invite, directed by and starring Olivia Wilde, as well as Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz, is still playing in 342 theaters nationwide.