Olivia Wilde will follow her Sundance breakout “The Invite” with “Naughty,” a holiday comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage that she calls the biggest undertaking of her directing career. Universal announced the casting Tuesday, and Wilde elaborated that evening on the red carpet for Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex,” in which she also stars.
“This is a project we’ve been working on for years; it’s a passion project and I fought and fought and fought to get this made,” Wilde told The Hollywood Reporter. She described “Naughty” as aiming for the spirit of Rob Reiner, blending comedy with genuine emotional stakes the way her previous film did. “It’s also a much bigger endeavor and is something that is way bigger than anything I’ve ever taken on,” she said, adding that Universal’s willingness to back her at that scale, working with Aniston and Dinklage, left her feeling honored.
The film follows Mallory, played by Aniston, who is fighting a custody battle with her ex-husband and sets out to track down Santa Claus, played by Dinklage, in hopes he will testify on her behalf at the divorce hearing. It is currently in pre-production and slated for theatrical release on Nov. 5, 2027.
“Naughty” will mark Wilde’s fourth feature as director, following her 2019 debut “Booksmart,” the widely scrutinized 2022 thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” and this year’s “The Invite,” which premiered at Sundance to a standing ovation and was acquired by A24 after a bidding war. That film, a four-hander starring Wilde alongside Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, was dedicated to the late Diane Keaton and has drawn some of the strongest reviews of Wilde’s career, with critics noting its debt to the marital comedies of an earlier Hollywood era.
The new project arrives as Wilde balances an unusually full slate: she is simultaneously promoting “The Invite” for awards consideration and starring in Araki’s film opposite Cooper Hoffman. Casting for additional roles in “Naughty” is ongoing, with Wilde saying she hopes several more actors will join Aniston and Dinklage before production begins.
