One of the major stories out of Sundance 2026 was the bidding war around Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite,” her relationship comedy starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Wilde herself. But according to Wilde, the film’s eventual landing spot at A24 was about more than the biggest check.
Speaking on IndieWire’s “Filmmaker Toolkit” podcast, Wilde said theatrical was crucial to the film’s release, even as she acknowledged that Netflix could have paid more.
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“It was very important for me,” Wilde said. “It was a non-negotiable. I was very lucky that I was supported in that by Annapurna. I think that Megan Ellison could have easily said, ‘No, we can get more money from Netflix easily.’”
Wilde said the final decision about the film’s home was left to her, and she felt A24 understood “The Invite” as a summer comedy with broader theatrical potential, not merely a chamber piece for older audiences.
Her larger concern is that adult comedies have increasingly been treated as streaming titles by default. Even during production, Wilde said, there was an assumption that the movie would probably be “toss[ed] on Netflix.”
For Wilde, that assumption misunderstood the film. “The Invite” depends on timing, awkward pauses, silence, and collective laughter, all of which require a level of attention that streaming can discourage.
“The thing is, this is a kind of movie that you need to watch and listen to,” Wilde said. “And if you have a phone in your hands, you won’t get it.”
Wilde then broadened the point beyond her own film, arguing that distracted viewing has already begun to shape how movies are made.
“I think they are, we both know they are, making movies specifically for people with a phone in their hand now,” Wilde said, calling it “the most devastating thing that’s happened.”
She also suggested that if filmmakers begin assuming audiences are only half-watching, the work itself becomes less demanding — a remark that reads like additional Netflix shade, even though the streamer recently denied claims that it encourages filmmakers to repeat plot points for distracted viewers.
“If we start making movies without that expectation, we won’t feel obligated to make things that are really worthy of the audience’s attention,” Wilde said. “We’ll start thinking, well, we can repeat the plot six times because they probably weren’t paying attention the first five times, and we’ll make worse movies.”
For Wilde, it seems her clearest argument for keeping comedies in theaters is that theatrical exhibition does more than confer prestige or box-office potential; it creates the basic conditions for attention.
“Theatrical, obviously, I believe in it,” Wilde said. “But I think audiences do as well.” “The Invite” expands into wide release this weekend, July 10.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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