# My Big Fat Greek Wedding
*My Big Fat Greek Wedding* is a 2002 romantic comedy directed by Joel Zwick, written by and starring [Nia Vardalos](https://www.edgepedia.org/nia-vardalos), about Toula Portokalos, a 30-year-old unmarried Greek-American woman who falls in love with Ian Miller ([John Corbett](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-corbett)), a teacher who is not Greek. Made for a negative cost of $5 million with partial financing from HBO and released by the niche distributor IFC Films, it earned $241.4 million in North America and $368.7 million worldwide, placing it in the Top 5 films of 2002 and making it remembered primarily as the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) • [2](https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/14785/chapter-abstract/169005356)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 19 April 2002, opening in 108 theaters; it played for 51 weeks, until 13 April 2003, with 43 weeks in the Top 20 of the North American box office chart[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) |
| Budget and gross | Negative cost of $5 million; domestic gross $241.4 million; worldwide gross $368.7 million[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) |
| Origin | Adapted by Vardalos from her one-woman stage show; the first public telling was a 20-minute monologue in January 1996 at an HBO-sponsored theater workspace in Hollywood[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-23-fi-greekside23-story.html) |
| Key credits | Producers Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman; production company Playtone; 94 minutes; rated PG; a Canadian and United States production[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62492) |
| Principal cast | Nia Vardalos (Toula), John Corbett (Ian Miller), Michael Constantine (Gus), Lainie Kazan (Maria), Andrea Martin (Aunt Voula)[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62492) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_big_fat_greek_wedding) |
| Recognition | Academy Award nomination for Vardalos's first screenplay[6](https://abcnews.com/Travel/story?id=7727159&page=1) |
| Franchise | Sequels in 2016 and 2023, plus a brief television run; a fourth film or series has been discussed by Vardalos but not confirmed by a studio[7](https://apnews.com/article/0411381901ba914db7a7d1bd4c1904f2) • [8](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2198826-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-discusses-franchise-future) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Everyone in the Portokalos family worries about Toula (Nia Vardalos), still unmarried at 30 and working at Dancing Zorba's, the Greek restaurant owned by her parents Gus ([Michael Constantine](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-constantine)) and Maria ([Lainie Kazan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lainie-kazan)). After taking a job at her aunt's travel agency, she falls in love with Ian Miller (John Corbett), a tall, handsome teacher who is definitely not Greek; Toula is unsure which will upset her father more, that Ian is a foreigner or that he is a vegetarian.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_big_fat_greek_wedding) As the romance blossoms, Toula tries to hide Ian from her parents, grandparents, and dozens of cousins, and them from him; once the truth comes out, the overbearing family descends on him to teach him the ways of "the world's greatest civilization."[9](https://www.europeanfilmawards.eu/efa-movie/my-big-fat-greek-wedding/)
The film's humor draws on the family's endearing eccentricities, such as Gus's improvisational Greek etymologies of words like "kimono" and his reliance on Windex for a range of external-use medicinal purposes.[10](https://decentfilms.com/reviews/mybigfatgreekwedding)
### Sequels and franchise
The story continued in *[My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-2)* (2016), released 14 years after the original and directed by Kirk Jones for Universal Pictures, with Vardalos and Corbett returning.[7](https://apnews.com/article/0411381901ba914db7a7d1bd4c1904f2) • [14](https://time.com/3579630/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-sequal-universal/) *[My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3](https://www.edgepedia.org/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-3)* followed in 2023, with Vardalos as star, writer, and director for the first time; the story sends the family to Greece to honor the late patriarch Gus and pays tribute to Michael Constantine, who died in 2021.[7](https://apnews.com/article/0411381901ba914db7a7d1bd4c1904f2) • [8](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2198826-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-discusses-franchise-future) The Associated Press review found the formula losing luster with the first sequel and called the third film a pale imitation of that pale imitation, while noting that Vardalos and her crew stage weddings well.[7](https://apnews.com/article/0411381901ba914db7a7d1bd4c1904f2)
At a FanX Salt Lake City panel, Vardalos said she would revisit the story through a fourth film or a new series: "I just feel like I can't not hang out with this family." No studio has confirmed a fourth movie or a series.[8](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2198826-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-discusses-franchise-future)
## Origin
The film grew out of Vardalos's one-woman stage show about her own Greek-Canadian family. In January 1996 she first performed a 20-minute monologue on the theme at an HBO-sponsored free theater "workspace" in Hollywood, and continued performing it at HBO sessions over the following months; a year later she registered a screenplay with the same theme and title with the [Writers Guild of America](https://www.edgepedia.org/writers-guild-of-america).[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-23-fi-greekside23-story.html) Before the film, Vardalos, a Greek-American writer and performer, had only a handful of acting credits, primarily in television, and no writing or other credits in film.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092)
## Production and release
Despite its small origins, the project attracted significant producing power in the form of two well-capitalized independent companies, Gold Circle and Playtone, with partial financing from HBO and theatrical distribution by IFC Films.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) The AFI catalog credits [Rita Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/rita-wilson), Tom Hanks, and [Gary Goetzman](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-goetzman) as producers under the Playtone banner, with Jeffrey Jur as cinematographer and Mia Goldman as editor.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62492)
**Box office run.** Released on 19 April 2002 in just 108 theaters, the film connected with a huge theatrical audience in the North American market. It played for fifty-one weeks, until 13 April 2003, with forty-three of those weeks in the Top 20 of the North American box office chart, and finished with a domestic gross of $241.4 million, a Top 5 placement for 2002, and $368.7 million worldwide.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) By late August 2002 it had climbed from 20th place on the US box-office chart to No. 8, having collected nearly $45 million since its April debut.[11](https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/8017/a-big-successful-greek-wedding/) This performance places it in a small group of low-budget films, alongside *The Blair Witch Project*, *Fahrenheit 9/11*, *The Passion of the Christ*, *Juno*, and *Slumdog Millionaire*, that defied industry expectations and reached vastly larger audiences than anticipated.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092)
## Reception
Critical reaction was generally favorable. Rotten Tomatoes records a 76% Tomatometer from 129 reviews and a 73% audience score from more than 250,000 ratings; its critics consensus calls the film "good-hearted, lovable, and delightfully eccentric, with a sharp script and lead performance from Nia Vardalos."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_big_fat_greek_wedding) Metacritic assigns a metascore of 62, with 17 positive, 11 mixed, and 1 negative review among 29 counted.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-big-fat-greek-wedding/critic-reviews/) Roger Ebert wrote that five minutes in he relaxed, "knowing it was set in the real world, and not in the Hollywood alternative universe where Julia Roberts can't get a date."[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-big-fat-greek-wedding/critic-reviews/) Vardalos earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for her first screenplay.[6](https://abcnews.com/Travel/story?id=7727159&page=1) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_big_fat_greek_wedding)
Scholarship has framed the film's success in industrial terms: as an "industrial 'rags to riches' story" and an anomaly in the context of American independent cinema, and as a work of a woman filmmaker that deserves reclaiming as one of the indie sector's biggest box office successes.[1](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092) • [2](https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/14785/chapter-abstract/169005356) The film was particularly well received by members of the [Greek diaspora](https://www.edgepedia.org/greek-diaspora), though it seems to have been less positively received in Greece itself.[13](https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/fc63d81e-0029-4f7b-906c-fd085a4c9146/content)
## References
1. [Tzioumakis, Yannis, and Papadimitriou, Lydia. "Having its Cake and Eating it Too: Contemporary American 'Indie' Cinema and My Big Fat Greek Wedding Reframed," in *Indie Reframed* (Edinburgh University Press, 2017), pp. 188–203.](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/indie-reframed/having-its-cake-and-eating-it-too-contemporary-american-indie-cinema-and-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-reframed/B2C20E233E89C1FC41E54BF3919A0092)
2. ["Having its Cake and Eating it Too," Edinburgh Scholarship Online chapter abstract.](https://academic.oup.com/edinburgh-scholarship-online/book/14785/chapter-abstract/169005356)
3. [Eller, Claudia, and Munoz, Lorenza. "Was One-Woman Show a 'Wedding' Rehearsal?" Los Angeles Times, 23 March 2003.](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-23-fi-greekside23-story.html)
4. [AFI Catalog: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/62492)
5. [My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Rotten Tomatoes.](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_big_fat_greek_wedding)
6. ["Traveling with the Stars: Nia Vardalos," ABC News/USA Today, 1 June 2009.](https://abcnews.com/Travel/story?id=7727159&page=1)
7. ["Movie Review: In 'Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,' the wedding's in Greece and the formula feels ancient," Associated Press, 7 September 2023.](https://apnews.com/article/0411381901ba914db7a7d1bd4c1904f2)
8. ["Will My Big Fat Greek Wedding 4 Happen? Nia Vardalos Has an Answer," ComingSoon.net, 29 September 2026.](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2198826-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-nia-vardalos-discusses-franchise-future)
9. [My Big Fat Greek Wedding, European Film Academy.](https://www.europeanfilmawards.eu/efa-movie/my-big-fat-greek-wedding/)
10. ["My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)," Decent Films.](https://decentfilms.com/reviews/mybigfatgreekwedding)
11. [Breznican, Anthony. "A big, successful Greek wedding," Kathimerini (Associated Press), 26 August 2002.](https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/8017/a-big-successful-greek-wedding/)
12. [My Big Fat Greek Wedding critic reviews, Metacritic.](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-big-fat-greek-wedding/critic-reviews/)
13. [School of Literature, Language and Media, University of the Witwatersrand (thesis discussing diaspora and Greek reception).](https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/fc63d81e-0029-4f7b-906c-fd085a4c9146/content)
14. ["My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 Picked Up by Universal," Time, 12 November 2014.](https://time.com/3579630/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-sequal-universal/)
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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 2000 to 2002 › Comedies of 2001*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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