FILM 2083: MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002)

TRIVIA: Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, saw the play and recommended that her husband produce a movie version. In an interview with the German magazine "Cinema," Nia Vardalosmentioned that she hung up when Hanks called because she did not believe it was really him.

When Aunt Voula learns that Ian is a vegetarian, she gets a bewildered look and replies, "That's okay. I make lamb." Nia Vardalos said this reflects the confusion that many Greeks have toward vegetarianism. During World War II, food was scarce, so Greeks subsisted on anything available. To them, a principle-base refusal to eat a certain kind of food makes little sense.

Nia Vardalos's real-life husband at the time of the filming, Ian Gomez, plays Ian's best friend, Mike. The couple divorced in 2018.

According to Nia Vardalos, paying for catering during the film proved not to be a problem. Wherever the film was being shot, whenever local Greek restaurants learned about it, they sent over lots of free food.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the highest-grossing romantic comedy film of all time.

Despite its status as a small independent film, and despite never holding the number one spot at the American box office, the movie went on to earn almost U.S. $369 million, a return of over sixty-one times (6150%) its U.S. $6 million (inflation-adjusted) budget. For that reason, it is the second most profitable film of all time after Paranormal Activity(2007). That film returned 12,890 times the money invested (1289038.67%) with a budget of $15,000.00. The Worlwide Box Office stopped ringing in $193 million.

Had one of the longest theatrical runs for a film in the home video era, playing for 52 weeks, of which 28 were in wide release (600+ theaters). For reference, it played eleven weeks longer than Titanic (1997), the highest-grossing domestic release at that time.

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