Jessica M.Thompson: Last News

EXCLUSIVE: Writer, director, and producer Jessica M. Thompson has signed with Verve for representation.

Outlander is one of the most iconic romance fantasy shows of recent years, skyrocketing the careers of leads Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan and creating a global fanbase.

In what became the worst box office weekend of the summer, Jessica M. Thompson's PG-13 vampire flick The Invitation - starring Game of Thrones alum Nathalie Emmanuel - earned more than any other movie with just $7M in 3,114 theaters.The 33-year-old Emmy nominee portrayed struggling artist and cater waiter Evelyn 'Evie' Jackson, whose free DNA test leads her to discover distant relatives residing in an English manor.The lord of the manor Walter Deville (Thomas Doherty) then attempts to make Evie his third vampire bride in the $10M-budget supernatural horror film inspired by Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter If three new movies debut in theaters, but nobody goes to see them… That is how Sony’s creepy thriller “The Invitation” managed to top box office charts with a paltry $7 million. Its win comes with some pretty weak bragging rights; it’s the lowest first-place finish since May 2021, when COVID was keeping people at home. Now, it’s not the pandemic that’s preventing audiences from going to theaters, it’s the lack of appealing options. Overall, the domestic box office generated just $54 million over the weekend, the worst collective result in months. And the bad times are expected to continue until at least late September or early October, when “Don’t Worry Darling” (Sept. 23), “Halloween Ends” (Oct. 14) and the comic book adaptation “Black Adam” (Oct. 21) open in theaters. It’s a disappointing finale to an otherwise strong summer at the movies, which fielded plenty of box office hits including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Elvis.”

J. Kim Murphy In a summer that’s often seen only one new wide release in a weekend, a whopping three new films hit theaters on Friday: Sony’s horror-thriller “The Invitation,” George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and bank heist movie “Breaking,” starring John Boyega. However, none of them seem to be making much of an impact, as the total box office projects a sum in the $50 million to $60 million range. That wouldn’t just be the worst weekend of the summer, but also the worst since February. “The Invitation” is tracking ahead of the other two, as it looks to claim the weekend’s top spot with a meagre $6 million to $7 million gross from 3,114 locations in its opening. Critics didn’t really care for the movie — it landed a 40% approval rating from review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes — and audiences were perhaps more unenthused. The film holds a “C” grade from research firm Cinema Score, indicating a rather snoozy reception from general consumers.

Joe Leydon Film Critic Despite some ambitious efforts by director Jessica M. Thompson and screenwriter Blair Butler to revitalize hoary horror movie tropes with allegorical commentary on race, class and male privilege, “The Invitation” is too wearyingly hackneyed for too much of its running time, and too often laugh-out-loud funny as its plot relies on the age-old convention of a smart yet naive heroine who makes one bad decision after another. It would not be at all surprising if, at some screenings, exasperated members of the audience shout rude things at the screen each time the endangered protagonist fails to act in her own self-interest. Evelyn (Nathalie Emmanuel of “Game of Thrones”) is a free-spirited twentysomething New Yorker who insists that everyone, even total strangers, call her Evie — and she insists quite frequently, just so we don’t miss the fact that she is indeed a free spirit — and scrapes by as wait staff at catered affairs while trying to fulfill her artistic ambitions creating ceramics. When she helps herself to a swag bag at a swanky affair for Find Yourself (evidently an upscale version of Ancestry.com), she finds a DNA test among the goodies and opts to investigate her family tree. This, of course, is the first of many mistakes.

Thomas Doherty and Nathalie Emmanuel are stepping out to support their new movie.

The trailer for the new horror film The Invitation has been released and we can already tell we’ll be watching this one through our fingers.