Olivia Wilde stood before a sold-out crowd of 8,000 at the Locarno Film Festival's Piazza Grande and made the case for putting comedies in cinemas. Her film The Invite, which she directed and stars in, was screening on the open-air piazza on 8 August 2026. Speaking at a press conference beforehand, Wilde said she was "passionate" about securing a theatrical release after the audience response at Sundance, where the film premiered in January. She called the reaction there "extraordinary" and said she wanted to investigate the "chemical reaction" the film had with its audience. Deadline

That reaction was real. The Invite received a standing ovation at its world premiere at the Eccles Center Theatre on 24 January 2026, during the Sundance Film Festival. It scored 91% fresh from 32 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes coming out of the festival. Sundance A multi-party bidding war followed. A24 won US rights, beating out competitors for the Wilde-directed comedy produced by Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures. Deadline

Wilde was blunt at Locarno about what it took to get there. She said financiers are effectively "bribed" with larger payouts to take streaming deals over theatrical releases, and that film-makers can give that money up if their priorities lie elsewhere. She thanked Ellison directly for backing her desire to get the film into cinemas and for agreeing to accept A24's theatrical offer, hinting that streamers had bid higher. FilmNation Entertainment, which co-handled the domestic sale with UTA, secured individual theatrical distributors across international territories. Deadline

The bet is paying off. The Invite neared $40 million at the global box office as of 31 July 2026, making it a rare indie comedy hit of the summer season. Variety In its third week of US release, A24 expanded the film from 28 screens to 1,610 locations. Deadline Black Bear handled the UK and Irish release, which began on 3 July. Deadline

The film itself is a remake of the Spanish-language movie Sentimental. The plot centres on a dinner party between a warring married couple and their upstairs neighbours, who turn out to be swingers. The cast includes Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton and Wilde herself. Variety

Wilde also told the Locarno press conference that her previous film's 38% Rotten Tomatoes score had "liberated" her to make The Invite. Variety The contrast between that reception and the current one is sharp — and the box-office numbers, not just the reviews, suggest the theatrical path was the right call for this particular film.