A bidding war for Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” has broken out at Sundance with multiple buyers circling the project. The bidding war stretched into Sunday night following the film’s premiere on Saturday night.
The packed Eccles theatre audience gave a teary Wilde a roaring standing ovation in approval as the credits rolled and she took the stage with her cast.
“The Invite” stars Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton and follows two couples – one on thin ice, another passionately in love – who convene for dinner. The story takes place over the course of a single evening, but Wilde as director channels “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for an uproarious, emotional story of relationships in all their messy glory.
Frontrunners circling the project include A24, Neon, Searchlight Pictures and Netflix.
In his review of the film, TheWrap’s Adam Chitwood wrote, “The Invite” is about relationships. But the way this chamber drama captures all of it – love, jealousy, anger, sex, depression, middle-age – is truly a thing to behold. Every time you think it’s going to veer into the trite or predictable, Wilde swerves into something more truthful. More meaningful.
Wilde avoids the “nagging wife” tropes, offering dimensionality for her and Cruz’s characters. The cast is more than up for the challenge, and it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility to think “The Invite” ensemble could make a mark on next year’s awards circuit.
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack wrote the script. Producers include David Permut, Ben Browning and Megan Ellison.
