Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” has become one of today’s rare indie comedies to connect at the summer box office.
Sandwiched between big-budget blockbusters like “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” A24‘s “The Invite” has climbed to $20 million in North America and $15.7 million internationally from 36 markets after three weekends in wide release. Thanks to stellar reviews and even better word-of-mouth, ticket sales are about to surpass $40 million worldwide — and that’s before the movie has opened in all overseas territories. It has yet to debut in key countries like Italy, France and Spain.
“It’s holding up nicely in the U.S., and it still has a lot of key dates in Europe ahead,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “I would not be surprised if it finished with over $60 million worldwide — that’s excellent.”
Of course, this summer’s “Obsession” ($262 million domestically, $459 million globally) and “Backrooms” ($196 million domestically, $389 million globally) were massive, paradigm-shifting successes in the arthouse space. But outside of horror, few independent releases have managed to surpass the $20 million mark at the domestic box office since COVID upended the movie theater industry. Others this year include A24’s dramedy “The Drama” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson ($48 million domestically, $132 million globally), YouTuber Mark Fischbach’s self-distributed “Iron Lung” ($40 million domestically, $50 million globally) and two Angel Studios offerings, the romantic comedy “Solo Mio” with Kevin James ($25 million domestically) and historical drama “Young Washington” ($45 million).
