Palm Springs Opens 2027 With Vanguard Award for The Invite

A24’s The Invite will receive the Palm Springs International Film Awards’ Vanguard Award on January 7, 2027, the first of several honors set for the festival’s annual opening-night gala in the Southern California desert.

What does the Vanguard Award recognize?

The Vanguard Award recognizes a director and cast’s collective work on an exceptional film project. The Invite therefore enters the awards discussion as a director-ensemble entry, with Olivia Wilde directing and starring alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. The announcement does not specify a selection process or voting breakdown, so its mechanics stop short of showing how recipients are chosen.

Past recipients include Hamnet last year, along with Green Book and The Shape of Water. The latter two each won the Best Picture Oscar, giving the award a record that extends beyond festival recognition. The announcement does not promise a comparable Oscar outcome for The Invite; it announces a festival honor and leaves that larger question unanswered.

The Invite follows a dinner party between two neighboring couples that spirals into unpredictable revelations and desire. The festival synopsis frames the story through the hilarity and humanity of marriage, intimacy and relationships. Wilde, Rogen, Cruz and Norton are slated to attend the gala. The announcement treats their attendance as prospective, not guaranteed.

Festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said: “With The Invite, Olivia Wilde has made a film that is both comedic and deeply human. In addition to directing, she stars alongside three of the most compelling actors working today: Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton.”

He added: “Each of them brings something irreplaceable to this story, and together they’ve created something that has stayed with audiences long after the credits roll. We are thrilled to honor this incredible team with this year’s Vanguard Award.”

The film reached theaters in late June and grossed $61.2 million, becoming one of the year’s top-grossing limited debuts and an indie summer hit domestically and overseas. The announcement provides one cumulative box-office figure and does not separate domestic receipts from overseas receipts, so the scale of each market remains unspecified.

What does this change for The Invite?

The practical change is a January 7 festival trophy and an opening-night spotlight for Wilde and her three co-stars, on the first day of the January 7–18, 2027 Palm Springs Film Festival. The award also gives a theatrical success a place in the festival’s honors program; it does not revise the reported box-office total or the film’s existing Gotham nomination count.

Earlier in the week, The Invite picked up four Gotham Film Awards nominations after premiering at Sundance this year. The Gotham slate included a co-leading nomination for the adapted screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones. The announcement does not say whether the Vanguard selection considers earlier recognition such as those four Gotham nominations, nor does it supply comparative scores for either contest.

The award and January 7 date are confirmed; the rest of the announced slate remains unspecified.