Rashida Jones, Will McCormack Write 1 Sex Comedy After 'The Invite'

Q: Why did Olivia Wilde reject higher streaming offers to ensure her sophisticated adult comedy received a theatrical release?

Olivia Wilde turned down richer streaming bids because she believed *The Invite* needed a theatrical release to work as intended. She argued that the film’s sophisticated, adult comedy depends on close attention to awkward pauses, glances and unspoken punchlines—elements she felt would be lost in the distracted environment of home viewing. In her view, a cinema “forces you to pay attention,” while streaming often competes with phones and other interruptions. Wilde also saw comedy as especially dependent on a shared audience response. She has said comedies benefit more than any other genre from the collective experience of people laughing, cringing and recognizing themselves together in a room. That communal reaction, she believed, gives a film like *The Invite* its full emotional and comic impact. Her push for theaters was also tied to artistic principle. Wilde has suggested that if filmmakers stop expecting theatrical releases, they may stop making work that demands full audience engagement. She wanted the film treated as an event worthy of concentrated attention, not as background viewing. A24 ultimately won the film because it matched that vision. Despite higher offers from streamers, including Netflix, the distributor committed to a robust theatrical strategy and saw the movie as more than a niche chamber piece, aligning with Wilde’s insistence that the film be experienced on the big screen.

3 articles · Updated · NPR · Jul 13

Rashida Jones and Will McCormack have written a new sex comedy that they say is not actually about sex, following their work on 'The Invite'.
The latest project extends a creative partnership that began decades ago after McCormack's sister set the two up on a date.
That date did not lead to a romance, but it launched a long-running collaboration that now frames the duo's latest script.