Here’s the trailer for Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite,” picked up by A24 at Sundance for $12M and now set for June 26 release this summer.
One of the critic quotes featured in the trailer calls the film “original,” even though it is a remake of the 2020 Spanish film “The People Upstairs” by Cesc Gay. In fact, that film has already been remade four additional times: in Italy as “Neighbors”(2022), in Switzerland as “The Neighbours from Upstairs” (2023), in France as “Maybe More” (2024), and in South Korea as “The People Upstairs” (2025).
Will McCormack and Rashida Jones wrote the screenplay for Wilde’s reimagining.
“The Invite” centers on a married couple—played by the oddly matched Wilde and Seth Rogen—inviting their neighbors, portrayed by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, over for an evening that ignites unexpected twists and turns, revealing deeply repressed emotions and unexplored sexuality.
The film’s Sundance reception is great news for Wilde, whose last directorial effort, Don’t Worry Darling, was surrounded by behind-the-scenes drama that, if it hasn’t already, will soon become Hollywood legend. Rumors swirled that Wilde was not the sole director on that film — looking at you, Florence Pugh and Matthew Libatique — and that she had an affair with her lead actor (Harry Styles).
Wilde’s directorial career kicked off with the critical success of “Booksmart” in 2019. Sadly, three years later, “Don’t Worry Darling” got panned (38% on Rotten Tomatoes). Critics hated it. It was not as bad a movie as they claimed it to be, nor was it as good as it should have been. Of course, no surprise, The New Yorker’s contrarian critic Richard Brody was a big fan.
That’s why “The Invite” is being seen as s directorial comeback from Wilde, currently holding a 77% on Metacritic and 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. That summer release is obviously a commercial play—A24 will want to make its $12M back—but here’s hoping it lives up to the buzz.