# Bachelorette (film)
**Bachelorette** is a 2012 American comedy film written and directed by [Leslye Headland](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslye-headland), adapted from her own off-Broadway play of the same name. It stars [Kirsten Dunst](https://www.edgepedia.org/kirsten-dunst), Isla Fisher, and [Lizzy Caplan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lizzy-caplan) as three bridesmaids who tear the bride's wedding gown the night before the ceremony and spend the night trying to repair it, a mission that degenerates into a night of booze, drugs, and nightclubbing.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bachelorette)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Leslye Headland, her feature directorial debut, adapting her own play[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bachelorette) • [2](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sundances-bad-girls-club-kirsten-dunst-isla-fisher-and-rebel-wilson-talk-bachelorette) |
| Principal cast | Kirsten Dunst (Regan), Isla Fisher (Katie), Lizzy Caplan (Gena), Rebel Wilson (Becky), James Marsden (Trevor), Adam Scott (Clyde)[3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/bachelorette/umc.cmc.13y9arvjaxfnojw3bic6ueyew) |
| Release | World premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; US theatrical release September 7, 2012, distributed by RADiUS-TWC[4](https://www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2011-2012-bachelorette) • [5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) |
| Rating and runtime | MPAA R for sexual content, pervasive language, and drug use; running time 1 hr 27 min[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) |
| Box office | $447,954 domestic, $11,680,621 international, $12,128,575 worldwide, against a $3,000,000 production budget[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) • [6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bachelorette) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 53 (mixed or average, 30 critics); Tomatometer 58% (57 fresh, 42 rotten of 99 reviews)[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bachelorette/) • [3](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/bachelorette/umc.cmc.13y9arvjaxfnojw3bic6ueyew) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Regan (Dunst), Gena (Caplan), and Katie (Fisher), three best friends from high school, reunite to celebrate the wedding of the fourth member of their quartet, Becky ([Rebel Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rebel-wilson)).[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bachelorette) The three had ridiculed Becky in high school, where they called her "Pig Face," and their reunion revives the rivalry between the unmarried trio and the bride.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) • [9](https://www.wbur.org/npr/160744867/bachelorette-sounds-dark-comedic-depths)
After a male stripper at the bachelorette party, the three hold an after-hours celebration of their own, fueled by liquor and cocaine. Regan and Katie try on Becky's plus-sized wedding dress as a gag and tear it, setting off a frantic overnight search across Manhattan for a replacement before the ceremony.[2](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sundances-bad-girls-club-kirsten-dunst-isla-fisher-and-rebel-wilson-talk-bachelorette) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bachelorette) Along the way Regan meets the hedonist Trevor (Marsden), Katie is pursued by former classmate Joe ([Kyle Bornheimer](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyle-bornheimer)), and Gena encounters her old flame Clyde (Adam Scott).[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bachelorette)
## From stage to screen
Headland wrote the play in 2008, and it ran off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre Uptown in July 2010, in a production the New York Times called "vivid, entertaining, and witheringly funny."[10](https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/kirsten-dunst---leslye-headland-on--bachelorette-) • [4](https://www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2011-2012-bachelorette) The play is part of her Seven Deadly Plays series, in which Bachelorette represents gluttony.[4](https://www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2011-2012-bachelorette)
[Will Ferrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-ferrell) and Adam McKay of Gary Sanchez Productions saw the play in 2010 and encouraged Headland to make it into a film.[10](https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/kirsten-dunst---leslye-headland-on--bachelorette-) Headland, a former [Harvey Weinstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-weinstein) assistant, directed the adaptation as her filmmaking debut; producer Jessica Elbaum had also risen through Gary Sanchez after serving as Ferrell's assistant.[2](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sundances-bad-girls-club-kirsten-dunst-isla-fisher-and-rebel-wilson-talk-bachelorette) • [11](https://moveablefest.com/jessica-elbaum-bachelorette/)
The adaptation changed the source material considerably. Headland described the play as largely plotless, a character study of people in a room, while the film elevated the torn wedding dress into the central plot engine, adding a chase across New York in the third act that she modeled on [Peter Bogdanovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-bogdanovich)'s *[What's Up, Doc?](https://www.edgepedia.org/whats-up-doc-1972-film)* and *After Hours*.[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-aug-10-la-et-mn-female-filmmakers-roundtable-20120812-story.html) • [13](https://filmmakermagazine.com/51492-leslye-headland-talks-bachelorette/)
## Release and reception
The film premiered as a selected feature at the 2012 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in January.[4](https://www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2011-2012-bachelorette) Because it premiered after the 2011 success of *Bridesmaids*, reviewers and the filmmakers themselves repeatedly compared the two, and Headland released a statement explaining the movies' differences; she told the Los Angeles Times she viewed the comparison the way *Bonnie & Clyde* related to its predecessors.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2012-01-24/sundance-2012-bachelorette-sort-of-like-bridesmaids) Reviewers generally found Bachelorette darker and meaner: David Edelstein of New York Magazine wrote that "lovely women doing genuinely ugly things makes for a potent combination," while Stephen Holden of the New York Times called it "more tartly written, better acted and less forgiving than male-centric equivalents like the 'Hangover' movies."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bachelorette/)
It opened in limited US release on September 7, 2012, while also being available on demand, and earned a domestic gross of $447,954 against a $3,000,000 budget.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) • [6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bachelorette) • [15](https://www.theatermania.com/news/bachelorettes-leslye-headland-takes-a-direct-approach-to-life_61147/) Nearly all of its revenue came from international markets, led by Italy ($2,235,226), Australia ($2,713,930), and France ($1,192,880), for a worldwide total of $12,128,575.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/) The Guardian's review called it "a flop in the US" that nonetheless retained an edge absent from the commercial pack.[16](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/145811/bachelorette)
## References
1. [Bachelorette, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bachelorette)
2. [Sundance's Bad Girls Club: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, and Rebel Wilson Talk 'Bachelorette', The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sundances-bad-girls-club-kirsten-dunst-isla-fisher-and-rebel-wilson-talk-bachelorette)
3. [Bachelorette, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/bachelorette/umc.cmc.13y9arvjaxfnojw3bic6ueyew)
4. [Bachelorette, Studio Theatre](https://www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2011-2012-bachelorette)
5. [Bachelorette (2012), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1920849/)
6. [Bachelorette (2012), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bachelorette)
7. [Bachelorette Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bachelorette/)
8. [Bachelorette Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bachelorette)
9. ['Bachelorette' Sounds Dark Comedic Depths, WBUR/NPR](https://www.wbur.org/npr/160744867/bachelorette-sounds-dark-comedic-depths)
10. [Kirsten Dunst and Leslye Headland on "Bachelorette", Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/video/watch/kirsten-dunst---leslye-headland-on--bachelorette-)
11. [Interview: "Bachelorette" Producer Jessica Elbaum, The Moveable Fest](https://moveablefest.com/jessica-elbaum-bachelorette/)
12. [Round table: Julie Delpy, Ava DuVernay and Leslye Headland on directing, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-aug-10-la-et-mn-female-filmmakers-roundtable-20120812-story.html)
13. [Director Leslye Headland on Bachelorette, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/51492-leslye-headland-talks-bachelorette/)
14. [Sundance 2012: 'Bachelorette,' (sort of) like 'Bridesmaids', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/24-frames/story/2012-01-24/sundance-2012-bachelorette-sort-of-like-bridesmaids)
15. [Bachelorette's Leslye Headland Takes A Direct Approach to Life, TheaterMania](https://www.theatermania.com/news/bachelorettes-leslye-headland-takes-a-direct-approach-to-life_61147/)
16. [Bachelorette, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/145811/bachelorette)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2011 to 2012 › Released in 2012*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license