Why A24 Should Treat Olivia Wilde’s ‘The Invite’ as a Major Oscar Contender
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- A24 acquired "The Invite" out of Sundance for a reported $12 million following a standing-ovation premiere and a multiday bidding war.
- Olivia Wilde directs and stars in the film — an English-language remake of Cesc Gay's 2020 Spanish film "The People Upstairs" — alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penélope Cruz as two San Francisco couples whose dinner detonates.
- Rashida Jones and Will McCormack wrote the script, reuniting after co-writing "Celeste and Jesse Forever"; McCormack previously won an Oscar for co-directing the animated short "If Anything Happens I Love You."
- Edward Norton (four-time Oscar nominee) and Penélope Cruz (winner for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona") deliver performances the Variety critic ranks among their best recent work — Norton since "Birdman," Cruz since "Parallel Mothers."
- The technical team includes editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis, an Oscar nominee for "The Favourite" and "Poor Things," plus cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, composer Devonté Hynes, and production designer Jade Healy, whose single-set apartment the piece calls "a fifth character."
- The piece argues A24 should run a full awards campaign and points to the studio's own playbook with "Everything Everywhere All at Once," a genre acquisition that became a seven-Oscar best-picture winner.
Why it matters: A24 has a $12 million acquisition and a four-person ensemble with Oscar pedigree — Norton has four prior nominations, Cruz has one win, editor Mavropsaridis has two recent nominations — sitting in a single-set chamber piece the source calls the studio's strongest awards play since "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
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