Focus Features has set a September 8 global release date for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. That will give some breadth to the post-Labor Day box office and an option for older female moviegoers, that weekend already having New Line’s The Nun 2 on the schedule.
Part 3 was written and directed by the franchise’s creator Nia Vardalos and stars the Oscar-nominated screenwriter opposite John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Maria Vacratsis, Andrea Martin, Elias Kacavas, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone and Melina Kotselou.
“The sweet friendship which bloomed from the producers’ first taking a chance on me then grew into a beautiful relationship as they entrusted me to direct this installment of our franchise,” Vardalos said. “We filmed our family reunion entirely in Greece, which was thrilling for us all. Plus, we ate for free.”
Producer Rita Wilson added: “It’s thrilling to have Nia Vardalos, Academy Award-nominated writer, not only in front of the camera as our star but also behind the camera as our director, guiding our beloved cast for this third film shot on location in Greece. My Big Fat Greek Wedding has brought audiences joy for 21 years. I’m so happy that more joy is on the way.”
The first My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a box office anomaly and case study back in 2002. The IFC Films pic ran as a platform release in fewer than 1,000 theaters for 17 weekends, initially $45M during that time before going north of that threshold to 2,000-plus locations and grossing a wild $241.4M domestic and $368.2M worldwide off a $5M production cost. The sequel, released by Universal, arrived in 2016 and made $59.6M domestic and $90.6M worldwide, putting the romantic comedy series at $458.8M.
Tom Hanks, Wilson and Gary Goetzman produced the third film, with Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer and Steven Shareshian serving as EPs. Focus has U.S. on the pic, while Universal Pictures International is handling overseas distribution.
Focus Features’ upcoming slate includes Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, an untitled comedy from Ethan Coen, Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society, A.V Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, Bill Holderman’s Book Club: The Next Chapter, Zelda Williams’ Lisa Frankenstein, Goran Stolevski’s Of an Age, Vasilis Katsoupis’s Inside and Bobby Farrelly’s Champions, among others.