Olivia Wilde Makes Case for Sex in Movie Theaters
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- Olivia Wilde directed and stars in "The Invite," a remake of the 2020 Spanish film "The People Upstairs," opening wide July 10 alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penélope Cruz
- A24 acquired "The Invite" for $12 million after a bidding war at Sundance, where both of Wilde's summer films premiered
- Wilde also stars in Gregg Araki's "I Want Your Sex" (in theaters July 31) as a performance artist who begins an affair with her younger assistant, played by Cooper Hoffman
- Wilde told Rolling Stone that streaming has made audiences more open to onscreen sex — citing HBO Max's "Heated Rivalry" — but that shared theatrical viewing of sexually frank scenes still feels transgressive in a way she finds thrilling
- Wilde invoked Paul Mazursky's 1969 "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice" as a precedent for using explicit intimacy to satirize cultural hangups while still feeling "relatable and bonding"
- Wilde said "The Invite" was substantially rewritten on the fly during an unusually long rehearsal period, with the film's mix of acting styles comparing to "a Mad Libs"
Why it matters: A24's $12 million Sundance bid for a sex-forward ensemble comedy — paired with two Wilde-led theatrical releases in one month — signals real distributor appetite for adult-themed films at a moment when the audience discomfort Wilde describes hasn't fully gone away.
