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Olivia Wilde’s last directing effort, 2022’s “Don’t Worry Darling,” was marred by controversy and messy behind-the-scenes gossip.
From Wilde’s falling out with the film’s original star Shia LaBeouf and her romance with his
replacement Harry Styles to alleged bad blood between her and lead actress Florence Pugh , the drama behind “Don’t Worry Darling” overshadowed the actual film.
Since then, over the last four years, Wilde has kept a low profile.
Until now.
Wilde is back with “The Invite,” an awards-buzzy ensemble dramedy that she not only stars in but also directs. She and Seth Rogen play a San Francisco couple on the brink of a breakup who find themselves facing their marital problems when they invite a free-spirited couple from their building (Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton) over for dinner.
“Conversations that stem from a comedy are really about people recognizing themselves and laughing at even difficult things, and there’s this sense of catharsis and relief of ‘Oh man, life is tough and we’re all just doing our best.’ The movie is meant to make you feel that and to have a good time,” Wilde told me Wednesday night at “The Invite” premiere in Los Angeles. “And that energy has really permeated the whole experience and even the press experience.”
She added with a smile, “I just feel kind of more relaxed and confident than ever.”
“The Invite” was bought by A24 for $12 million after its Sundance debut earlier this year. As Variety reported, Wilde wiped away tears as she received a standing ovation after the Park City, Utah screening.
On Wednesday, Wilde posed on the carpet in a dramatic, body-bearing black gown. She greeted her co-stars with long embraces.
“I feel so lucky,” Wilde told me. “I mean, this is the greatest job in the world, and to be able to make a film with this group of people and to be able to release it in theaters is the dream. It’s been the most rewarding experience and I’m just so, so happy.”
“The Invite” is an English-language adaptation of Cesc Gay’s 2020 Spanish film “Sentimental,” which he adapted from his stage play of the same name. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack serve as “The Invite” screenwriters. Producer David Permut told me that he’s currently developing a stage adaptation.
“She can handle pressure, and I really admire that and in the most kind and generous way,” Cruz said of Wilde. “She always had time for every single person in every department. We spent a like a crazy week and a half working on the script, like all of us.”
Rogen recalled the cast sharing some of their most private and vulnerable experiences about romance and marriage with each other before filming began.
“We all just kind of sat in a room and sort of read through the script, but mostly talked about kind of what we all thought made a good marriage and maybe made a bad marriage and made a healthy sexual dynamic and an unhealthy [sexual dynamic],” he said. “It got very personal very fast with a lot of the actors because that’s what the movie is about. I think in order to make it feel as real and reflective of the filmmakers and the team’s lives as possible, we all really got very honest with one another and I think it made the film much better and a lot of it worked its way into the film in various ways.”
Wilde previously revealed that she chose A24 over Netflix because she wanted a traditional run in theaters. “The Invite” release comes just on the heels of a report that the domestic box office is 13% ahead of last year. The summer season is pacing just 3.4% behind 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.
“I was so excited to hear that, and I think it’s great that it’s largely driven by young people because for a while there was this kind of myth that young people, Gen Z, didn’t want to go to the movie theaters,” Wilde said. “There was this sort of manipulation at play, I think, really for profit that was trying to say that they didn’t want to go to the movie theaters. They didn’t care, they’d rather be home.
She continued, “They are the ones driving the box office right now. They are driving this enthusiasm for authorship in filmmaking. They love ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession.’ They’re here for it. They want people to take risks in movies because they appreciate that risk. The audience has never been the problem, and I think now we’re seeing studios recognize that.”
While Wilde is tight-lipped about post-“The Invite” directing plans, she said: “I don’t want to jinx it, but I really hope to be able to put more comedies in the world. I think that if my purpose in this business was to bring fun people together and be silly and allow everyone to laugh, then I will have done something valuable.”
