My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Begins Filming in Plaka, Greece

The romantic comedy cinderella hit indie film ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ was released in 2002 and was written by Greek-Canadian Winnipeg native Nia Vardalos. Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson saw the original play and later made the film on a $5 million budget. Nia starred in the film as Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos, a middle class Greek-American woman that falls in love with the upper middle class “xeno” (non-Greek) Ian Miller. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 will be filmed in Greece on Corfu island this summer from July 5 – August 3, 2022. Casting has begun and, according to reports, there is a lot of interest from locals in taking part as extras both for the experience and the extra money. Nia Vardalos and the production team visited the olive groves and production facilities of the renowned Corfu company The Governor, whose olive oil was the first from Corfu to be sold in Harrods.

The indie sleeper hit became the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time, grossing $241.4 million in North America, despite never reaching #1 at the box office during its release. It was the highest-grossing film for 14 years until the animated film ‘Sing’ grossed $268 million in 2016. The sequel which came 14 years later titled ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2’, was released on March 25, 2016 and grossed $90 million at the box office with cameos by Rita Wilson and John Stamos. The sequel received 27% from critics and a 53% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times called it “a washed-out recycling of ethnic clichés and exhausted jokes”. Roger Ebert gave the sequel just 1 star and said “the script is a mess, and no amount of Windex can clean it up”. We are hoping that the third instalment can bring back more of the fun, laughter, and charm of the original. The dad, Gus Portokalos, played by Michael Constantine will greatly be missed as he sadly passed away at 94 – SEE MORE.

According to Vardalos, Constantine will be honoured and the threequel will be dedicated to his memory.

“Michael had informed me that he wouldn’t be able to join us for the third movie and that he wished for us to go on. I developed the screenplay to reflect Michael’s decision and will always appreciate his last messages to me. We will always miss you, Michael. Thank you for bringing my words to life with such passion and accuracy. You will always be with us.”

Nia Vardalos announced: “We are in Greece filming My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3…we are filming in the beautiful Plaka of Athens.”

SEE PHOTOS FROM THE SET OF MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 IN GREECE

She posted a video on her Instagram page: 

 

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A post shared by Nia Vardalos (@niavardalos)

Which was your favourite? Are you looking forward to MBFGW 3? Let us know in our comments below.