Моя большая греческая свадьба

2002 film by Joel Zwick

Thirty year old Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos is a member of a large, loud, intrusive Greek family that only wants her to get married and have children. Frumpy and meek, she works in her family's Chicago restaurant, "Dancing Zorba's", but longs to do something more with her life. While working one day, a school teacher named Ian Miller comes into the restaurant, and Toula develops a crush on him. That evening, she tells her parents that she wants to go to college to learn about computers, but her father Gus becomes emotional, claiming Toula wants to leave him. Her mother Maria comforts her and convinces him 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 off her figure. She sees a notice for a course on computers and tourism and tells her Aunt Voula, who owns a travel agency, that she could apply what she learns in the course to Voula's business. She agrees, and she and Maria slyly convince Gus to agree as well. Toula's happiness working at the travel agency catches Ian's attention and he asks her to dinner. On their date, Toula confesses to Ian that her family owns Dancing Zorba's, and he suddenly recognizes her; contrary to Toula's fear that he would lose interest in her, Ian reaffirms his fondness for her. They continue dating and fall in love. Knowing her family would not approve of her dating a non Greek, Toula lies that she is taking a pottery class to see Ian. However, Toula's lie 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, even though they are grown adults. Gus forbids them from continuing to see each other because Ian is not Greek, but they continue dating anyway. He introduces Toula to single Greek men, to no avail. Ian proposes marriage and Toula accepts. Maria tells Gus that he must accept their marriage, but he remains upset because Ian is not a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. To get the family to accept him, Ian agrees to be baptized into the church. The Portokalos family does finally accept Ian but constantly inserts themselves into the wedding planning, designing ugly bridesmaid's dresses and misspelling Ian's mother's name on their wedding invitations. His quiet, conservative parents meet the entire family during a loud and extravagant Greek family dinner where they dance and drink for hours and are overwhelmed by the experience, frustrating Gus. Toula worries about whether her father has accepted Ian. At the wedding reception, Gus gives a heartfelt speech focusing on how the differences in the newlyweds' backgrounds do not matter. He and Maria then surprise Toula and Ian with a house as a wedding gift. As the two families dance together, Toula narrates that while her family is indeed loud, odd, and somewhat dramatic, she knows they love her and will always be there for her. Six years later, Toula and Ian leave their house to walk their daughter to Greek school. The house is then revealed to be right next door to Gus and Maria's house.

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, Theatre in Los Angeles in August 1997. moving to ACME Comedy Theatre, still as a workshop. The one woman 45 minute monologue 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. Several Hollywood executives and celebrities saw it, including actress Rita Wilson, who is herself of Greek origin; West Hollywood, for a three night a week run. It was the fifth highest grossing film of 2002 in the United States and Canada, with 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 $241.4 in 2002 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years 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.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

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.

The cast (with the exception of Vardalos, who had a separate deal), as well as Hanks' production company, Playtone, later sued the studio for their part of the profits. They charged that Gold Circle Films was engaging in so called "Hollywood accounting" practices, as the studio claimed the film lost $20 million despite its final gross.

The film inspired the brief 2003 TV series My Big Fat Greek Life, with most of the major characters played by the same actors, with the exception of Steven Eckholdt replacing Corbett as the husband. Corbett had already signed on to the TV series Lucky. He was scheduled to appear as the best friend of his replacement's character, but the show was cancelled before he appeared. The show received poor reviews from critics noting the random character entrances and serious plot "adjustments" that did not match the film. The seven episodes from the series are available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, whose TV studio division produced the show.

In late June 2016, Vardalos said that she had not written a third film, but was open to the possibility. On April 8, 2021, it was announced that My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 was in development as an independent film written by Vardalos, who would also reprise her role as Toula. The project was delayed by the COVID 19 pandemic, as production could not begin until the studio was able to obtain insurance for its crew. In October 2021, Vardalos confirmed that the script for the third film had been completed. On May 15, 2022, it was announced that filming would take place throughout Greece that summer, with large portions being shot on Corfu from July 5 to August 3. On June 22, Vardalos was announced as the film's director. Principal photography commenced on June 22, 2022, in Athens and wrapped on August 10, 2022. The film is a joint production of Playtone, Gold Circle Films, HBO Films, and Focus Features and was released on September 8, 2023. The film was dedicated to the memory of Michael Constantine, who died on August 31, 2021, at the age of 94. The film's plot follows the Portokalos family on a trip to Greece for a family reunion following the death of Toula's father Gus.