‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ Trailer: Nia Vardalos Heads to Greece

How do you top not one but two Big Fat Greek Weddings? By having a Big Fat Greek Wedding that’s actually in Greece. Focus Features released the first trailer for “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” this Thursday, seeing the Portokalos family head off to the motherland.

First released in 2002, the original “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” tells the story of Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos), a Greek woman in Chicago who falls in love and gets engaged to WASPy Ian Miller (John Corbett, who’s reprising another of his iconic early 2000s rom-com roles this year in Season 2 of “And Just Like That”), but struggles to deal with her large Greek family during the wedding planning process. 2016 brought the film’s first sequel, which focused on Toula and Ian’s life as parents and a second wedding between Toula’s parents Maria (Lainie Kazan) and Gus (the late Michael Constantine).

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The third film picks up with Toula and her family after the passing of Gus, whose last wish was for his children to visit his childhood village in Greece. The whole family packs their bags for a vacation to the country, as Toula attempts to track down her dad’s childhood best friends, the grown-ups reconnect with their roots, and Toula’s aunt Theia (Andrea Martin) plays matchmaker with teenage Paris (Elena Kampouris) and tagalong Aristotle (Elias Kacavas).

The original “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was a major sleeper hit when it was first released, making $368.7 million worldwide on a minuscule $5 million budget, despite never reaching No. 1 at the box office during its theatrical run. It remains the highest-grossing rom-com domestically, making $241.4 million in North America. (It’s also the highest-grossing film in the history of IFC Films, earning about 10 times what the next highest, “Boyhood,” did, and considered by some to be the highest-grossing independent film ever.) The film was also positively received by critics, netting Vardalos an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay.

Vardalos takes over the director’s chair for the third film, in addition to penning the screenplay again. Corbett, Martin, Kazan, and Kampouris also star with Louis Mandylor, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Maria Vacratsis, and Melina Kotselo. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and Gary Goetzman all return from the first two films to produce the third installment; Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, and Steven Shareshian serve as executive producers. Focus Features will release the film in the U.S., and Universal Pictures International will distribute the film internationally.

“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” heads down the (movie theater) aisle September 8. Watch the full trailer for the film below.

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