My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos. It stars an ensemble cast led by Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone. It follows a young Greek-American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek man and struggles to get her family to accept him, while coming to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
An international co-production between the United States and Canada, the film premiered at the American Film Market on February 22, 2002, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 19, by IFC Films. It received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $368.7 million worldwide against its $5 million budget, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2002. At the 60th Golden Globe Awards, it earned two nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (for Vardalos). It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 75th Academy Awards, while Vardalos won Best Debut Performance at the 18th Independent Spirit Awards.
The film spawned a franchise, which inspired the 2003 sitcom My Big Fat Greek Life and the 2016 sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2. A third film, titled My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, was released in theaters on September 8, 2023.
Plot
In Chicago, 30-year-old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos is a member of a large, loud, overbearing Greek family. Her father, Costas "Gus" Portokalos, wants her to get married and have children as soon as possible. Toula lives with her parents and works at their restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, but longs to gain independence from her family.
One day, Toula finds herself attracted to Ian Miller, a high school teacher who is meeting a friend at Dancing Zorba's. That evening, she tells her parents she wants to take classes at the local college to learn about computers to help them run the restaurant, but Gus becomes distraught, thinking Toula intends to leave him. Toula's mother Maria comforts her and convinces Gus to agree to Toula's idea.
As the weeks pass, Toula gains more confidence and changes her image, switching her thick-framed glasses for contact lenses, styling her hair, and wearing makeup and brighter clothes that show her figure. After seeing a flyer for a class about computers and tourism, she suggests to her aunt Voula that she could take the class and apply what she learns to help Voula's travel agency. Voula agrees, and Toula and Maria covertly convince Gus to agree as well.
While Toula is working in the travel agency, Ian notices her and asks her out for dinner. On their date, she reveals to him that her family owns Dancing Zorba's; he suddenly remembers her and, contrary to Toula's fear that he would remember her as "frump girl", he remains interested. They continue dating and fall in love.
Knowing her family would disapprove of her dating a non-Greek, Toula lies about taking a pottery class as a cover to continue seeing Ian. However, she is exposed when a family friend sees them kissing in a parking lot. Gus is furious that Ian did not ask his permission to date Toula and forbids them from seeing each other. Despite Gus's efforts at introducing her to single Greek men, she continues to date Ian. Her brother Niko tells Toula she has inspired him to follow his passion and take art courses at night.
Ian proposes marriage and Toula accepts. Maria tells Gus that he must respect Toula's decision, but he remains upset because Ian is not a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. Ian agrees to be baptized into the church to persuade Toula's family to accept him.
Toula's family members constantly insert themselves into the wedding planning, designing ugly bridesmaid dresses and misspelling Ian's mother's name on the wedding invitations. Ian's quiet, conservative parents meet Toula's entire family during a loud and extravagant dinner, after which Gus is frustrated by the Millers' introverted and judgmental nature. Toula worries about whether her father has accepted Ian, but Maria reassures her that she and Gus came to the United States so Toula and her siblings could have the freedom Maria and Gus did not have as children.
At the wedding reception, Gus gives a heartfelt speech about how the differences in the newlyweds' backgrounds do not matter. He and Maria reveal that they have bought a house for Toula and Ian. As the two families dance together, Toula decides that while her family is loud and unconventional, she knows they love her and will always be there for her.
Six years later, Toula and Ian are living in the house Gus and Maria bought them, which is located right next door to the Portokalos' house. The couple walks their daughter Paris to her first day of Greek school.
Cast
Production
Development My Big Fat Greek Wedding started as a one-woman 45-minute monologue workshop, written by, and starring Vardalos, first developed in the HBO Workshop, then tested in Chicago, Toronto and Europe, later performed at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles in August 1997, moving to ACME Comedy Theatre, still as a workshop.
The one-woman 45-minute monologue workshop was based on Vardalos's own family in Winnipeg in Canada and on her experience marrying a non-Greek man (actor Ian Gomez).My Big Fat Greek Wedding: About the Production , Hollywood Jesus, 2002 The workshop was popular and was sold out for much of its run, in part due to Vardalos's marketing it across Greek Orthodox churches in the area.Nia Vardalos interview , Robin Rea, Screenmancer.com Several Hollywood executives and celebrities saw it, including actress Rita Wilson, who herself has Greek heritage. Wilson convinced her husband, actor Tom Hanks, to see it as well.
Vardalos began meeting various executives about making a film version of the monologue and began writing a screenplay as well. However, the meetings proved fruitless because the executives insisted on making changes that they felt would make the film more marketable, to which Vardalos objected. These included changing the plot, getting a known actress in the lead role (Marisa Tomei was one name mentioned), and changing the family's ethnicity to Hispanic. Two months after the monologue's initial run ended, Hanks's production company, Playtone, contacted Vardalos about producing a film based on her vision for it. They also agreed to remount it as a one-woman play in January 1998 at the Globe Playhouse, West Hollywood, for a three-night-a-week run.
In 2000, while in Toronto doing pre-production for the film, Vardalos and Playtone producer Gary Goetzman overheard actor John Corbett (who was in town shooting the film Serendipity) at a bar, telling a friend of his about having read the script for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and being upset that he couldn't make the auditions. Vardalos and Goetzman approached Corbett and offered him the part of Ian Miller on the spot, which he accepted.
Hanks later said that casting Vardalos in the lead role "brings a huge amount of integrity to the piece because it's Nia's version of her own life and her own experience. I think that shows through on the screen and people recognize it."
Filming Despite being based on life in the Greek community of Winnipeg, the film was set in Chicago and shot in both Toronto and Chicago. Toronto Metropolitan University and the Greektown neighborhood are featured prominently in the film. The home used to depict Gus and Maria Portokalos's residence (as well as the home bought next door at the end of the film for Toula and Ian) is located on Glenwood Crescent just off O'Connor Drive in the Toronto suburb of East York. The real home representing the Portokalos' residence retained most of the external ornamentation that was shown in the film until 2021. Also, some minor parts of the movie were shot at Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Principal photography began on May 9, 2001 and ended on June 30, 2001. Locations from the film include:
Dancing Zorba's (exterior) – 132 Simcoe Street [demolished in 2002] Portakalos house – 73 Glenwood Crescent Toula's School – Westway Junior School Olympus Travel Agency – 439 Danforth Avenue Harry S. Truman College – Rogers Communications Centre Waterfront date – Amsterdam Bridge Ian's apartment – Upper Canada Apartments, 5 Lonsdale Road Miller house – 16 Amelia Street Ian's school – Jarvis Collegiate Institute Greek Orthodox Church – Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral (exterior); St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church (interior) Aphrodite's Palace – 702 Pape Avenue (exterior); Ellas Banquet Hall, 35 Danforth Road (interior) [demolished in 2016] Ian and Toula's house – 75 Glenwood Crescent
Release After a February 2002 premiere, it was initially released in the United States via a limited release on April 19, 2002, before receiving a wider release worldwide over the summer, including a wide release in the United States on August 2.
Reception Box office My Big Fat Greek Wedding became a sleeper hit and grew steadily from its limited release. Despite never hitting the number one spot for a box office weekend and being an independent film with a $5 million budget, it ultimately grossed over $368.7 million worldwide, becoming one of the top romantic films of the 21st century. Echo Bridge Entertainment. Retrieved on May 12, 2008 It was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2002 in the United States and Canada, making USD$241,438,208, and the highest-grossing romantic comedy domestically in history. Domestically, it also held the record for the highest-grossing film never having been number one on the weekly North American box office charts, until the 2016 release of the animated film Sing. However, adjusted for inflation, the gross of My Big Fat Greek Wedding was still higher, equivalent to $ million in 2016. The film is among the most profitable of all time, with a 6150% return on an (also inflation-adjusted) cost of $6 million to produce. The rankings cited in this article have been disputed as some films were not included.
As of December 2003, the video sold 9.85 million copies earning a profit of over $164.8 million dollars.
Critical response Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the a score of 62 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Accolades 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Romantic Comedy Film
+ List of awards and nominations Award Category Recipients Result Academy Awards Best Original Screenplay Nia Vardalos Critics' Choice Awards Best Acting Ensemble My Big Fat Greek Wedding Best Writer Nia Vardalos Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nia Vardalos MTV Movie Awards Best Breakthrough Female Performance Nia Vardalos People's Choice Awards Favorite Motion Picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding Favorite Comedy Motion Picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding Producers Guild of America Best Theatrical Motion Picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding Satellite Awards Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding Best Actress - Musical or Comedy Nia Vardalos Best Supporting Actor - Musical or Comedy Michael Constantine Best Supporting Actress - Musical or Comedy Lainie Kazan Best Adapted Screenplay Nia Vardalos Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture My Big Fat Greek Wedding Writers Guild of America Award Best Original Screenplay Nia Vardalos
10th-anniversary edition In 2012, a 10th anniversary edition of the film was released via DVD and Blu-ray by HBO. The edition contains a digital copy of the film and features deleted scenes as well as a 30-minute retrospective with Vardalos and Corbett.
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