#My Big Greek Wedding 3

[denimbex1986]

'If Hollywood sees something making money, you better believe that the film industry will try and make that lightning strike again. Such is the case with Barbenheimer, the phenomenon where Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day and both received a massive box office boost in the process. These titles generated a lot of pre-release buzz over how remarkably different they were from one another, with all that discussion gradually turning into a pop culture phenomenon. Tons of distinctive outfits and elaborate double-feature plans ensued, in the process cementing the weekend of Barbenheimer as something that will undoubtedly go down in cinematic history.

The only problem now, though, is that Hollywood is going to want to see this success repeated. The circumstances behind the Barbenheimer phenomenon were very specific and played on two very different filmmakers who’d cultivated immediately identifiable reputations over multiple decades (not to mention that everyone knows who either Barbie or Oppenheimer are). It’s not going to be easy to replicate that, especially with Hollywood’s modern aversion to counter-programming. However, over the next few months, there will be multiple instances where the film industry is going to try its best to capture that Barbenheimer lightning in a bottle.

Can Saw Patrol Dethrone Barbenheimer?

The next immediate potential Barbenheimer drops over the second weekend of September. That’s when Warner Bros. will once again take a cue from its monster 2017 hit It and debut a horror movie in the post-Labor Day corridor. That scary feature will be The Nun II, which will open against My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. This pair of motion pictures certainly fit the bill of being polar opposites, however pairing them up doesn’t feel like it’ll generate anywhere near the interest of Barbenheimer. A pair of sequels to long-running franchises just don't bring the must-see originality of “Nolan doing Oppenheimer” and “Barbie is in live-action for the first time.”

At the end of the month, another pair of movies will also try their best to be the next Barbenheimer: Saw X and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. These dueling movies have already garnered an affectionate nickname from the internet (or at least overly eager studio marketers), Saw Patrol. However, this pair of opposing movies already garnering a nickname that’s been co-opted by official Saw and Paw Patrol social media accounts appears to immediately discount this double feature becoming the next Barbenheimer. You can’t just generate this kind of pop culture phenomenon in a boardroom meeting. All those memes pairing up Barbie singing in a car with the shell-shocked face of Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer were so beloved because they came from genuinely eager moviegoers. That’s an entirely different world compared to the Paw Patrol Twitter account communicating with the Saw Twitter account.

It won't be until November when another potential Barbenheimer will drop in the form of the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes opening up against Trolls Band Together. This one has the potential to be extra strange since it could become a "triple feature" kind of deal as the hard-R holiday slasher film Thanksgiving also drops on that same day, November 17. However, the idea of a Trolls movie opening the same day as a PG-13 tentpole doesn't have the same novelty as Barbenheimer, since the first Trolls opened on the same day as the inaugural Doctor Strange movie. Plus, there isn't as much drastic difference in the target demos of Songbirds and Trolls. They’re both big sequels aiming largely to get women into movie theaters. To pull off a Barbenheimer, you need a pair of movies as drastically different in tone as the bands Kero Kero Bonito and Five Finger Death Punch.

December 2023 has a handful of instances of drastically different movies opening on the same day, but that’s not at all unusual for the last month of the year (remember Sisters opening the same day as Star Wars: The Force Awakens?) The slate of 2024 films is so nebulous right now that it feels peculiar to comment on any potential Barbenheimer showdowns in this year. However, it is worth noting that the closest potential Barbenheimer is launching the first weekend of March 2024. That's when the next original Pixar movie, Elio, debuts competing against The Fall Guy, a new action movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The last two movies those actors anchored? Barbie and Oppenheimer, respectively. It's also easy to imagine The Fall Guy, which will be R-rated, will be drastically different in tone than a family-friendly sci-fi Pixar feature. A pair of non-sequels (The Fall Guy is based on a 1980s TV show), one of which is headlined by the stars of the films that comprised the titles in the Barbenheimer phenomenon, could be the next big instance of lucrative counter-programming.

Do Not Try and Mimic Barbenheimer, That Way Lies Madness

While a potential Elio/The Fall Guy showdown could inspire some unorthodox double features and memes (the trailer for The Fall Guy will certainly immediately get remixed to Gosling’s version of “Push”), it’s still unlikely to be as momentous of a pop culture event as Barbenheimer. This was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, buoyed by a pair of movies covering historical figures and toys that everyone is familiar with. Even a Gosling/Blunt union rooted in a 1980s TV show can’t hope to recreate that magic, let alone whatever the heck “Saw Patrol” is.

The inherent problem with trying to recreate Barbenheimer is that this task is built on cynicism and attempting to create easily controllable lucrative variables when the Barbie and Oppenheimer showdown was so wildly unpredictable. You’re not going to get those kinds of drastically bigger-than-expected box office numbers when you’re relying on the umpteenth Paw Patrol and Trolls movies. Plus, studio executives and marketers trying to mimic phenomena and moviegoer passion that originates organically never work out. In the 1960s, Hollywood was unable to make its various James Bond pastiches click. In the early 2010s, there was a flood of Twilight knock-offs that are now gathering dust somewhere. Inevitably, we’ll soon have a bunch of examples of would-be Barbenheimer’s that will go nowhere.

That’s such a shame because the success of Oppenheimer and Barbie should be instructing Hollywood that audiences will turn out for exciting and bold creative visions. These projects should be inspiring studios to look for other exciting artists who have distinctive ideas for how large-scale cinema can operate, while remembering how important it is to make movies that satisfy female moviegoers. If the greatest takeaway these companies have from the artistic achievements of Barbie and Oppenheimer is just to place Saw X and Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie on the same date, well, it wouldn’t be surprising, but it would be incredibly disappointing.'

[ygsunflower]

So glad MBFGW3 and Special Ops: Lioness made her dye her hair to this darker color. It really compliments her well.

[filmgifs]

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 (2023) dir. Nia Vardalos

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

#Like Father Like Daughter

[tallbluelady]

"Have I told thee how very precious thou art to me?"

"Aye, darling, a thousand times."

"Pray humor me once more."

[reimulin]

I can’t BELIEVE my big fat greek wedding 3 gave us the non-binary autistic icon that is Victory. I love them SO MUCH

[momrikamayhem]

Ok let's talk about My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 and the fact that there's amazing NB representation in it. Please go see the movie!

And while you're at it watch the first 2 also because there's not a lot of good Greek representation in Hollywood movies and also the first one is BASICALLY the story of my moms life. The family connections are beautiful, the closeness, the fighting, the yearning, the acceptance, the convelutedness, how there's only 3 names for everyone, and just the everyone in everyone's business. It's how I grew up and its so beautiful to see that story told on screen and to look at it and see my own family.

It's fantastic and it's my family. And the NB representation and acceptance in the 3rd is so lovely

[psalm40speakstome]

I love that My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 had a married couple that still likes spending time together and still likes each other. And this is a couple that been married for decades by this point.

what a rare and beautiful thing to see in film.

[lserver362reviews]

My heart! Toula and Ian are still absolute couple goals! I could watch them lean on each other in various locations all day. There wasn't quite enough for Ian to do, although I loved seeing him with the monk. I am convinced John Corbett came up with the idea to imitate the rooster in that one very brief shot. This movie packed so much in (maybe too much) but I laughed, I cried, and I recognized places I've been. I loved how much Nick got in this! I found Paris' college storyline the least compelling, but I enjoyed her character in this new setting. Nonbinary disaster gay Victory is an icon. I feel like this movie really shows an evolution where our characters are less tropey and deeper. What a beautiful nod to immigrants, the impact of war, and the sharing of culture, as well as grief and seeing parents age. Beautiful stuff. There are movies that I consider mine, as in no one recommended them to me or showed me them, but I fell in love with them on cable. These titles include You've Got Mail, Music & Lyrics, and of course, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, even though I was definitely too young to be the intended audience. I only watched the sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding after my local FYE went out of business and I got the DVD BluRay combo pack for maybe $10 tops. It had come out while I was in college and I was jaded that a sequel even existed. But it got me hook, line, and sinker when I did sit down and watch it. I figured that this third installment might surprise me in a similar way, and I was right! I was very scared by the poster as it looks just wretched and I had seen some people online say it was a flop, and there were only three other people in my screening, but I was just thrilled to be seeing some of my favorite characters on the big screen for the first time. Going opening weekend was important to me. The heart that these films have-and that's what matter to them-is unmatched. Nia Vardalos is my Greta Gerwig. If you didn't have fun, I don't know what to tell you! Σωπα!

[girllookingoutwindow]

I know everybody is waiting for this movie too:

But I I'm waiting for this one:

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

250. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)

[ygsunflower]

Guess who just went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 for Stephanie Nur 👀

She looks so beautiful and cute in the movie 😭 and her character Qamar is completely different from Aaliyah- so light and free. (I noticed Qamar’s voice is more similar to Stephanie’s voice in real life than Aaliyah’s.) Can’t stop thinking what if in this universe Aaliyah/Qamar and Cruz/Zara met each other… Aaliyah/Qamar is the Syrian refugee girl in this Greek village and Cruz/Zara is the visiting American here for traveling/business etc. What would become of them then… where they are free from their dark and heavy fates and can just be them and have regular problems. 🥹

Also, there’re scenes of her, and her ARMS 👀👌🏼 Girl needs to drop her arm workout routine (i do not believe her “just carrying heavy grocery bags home” bs)

I went with low expectations because she wasn’t focused on any of the promotions & trailers, and she wasn’t even on the movie poster. But, there were actually a good amount of her in the movie, and she was kinda the secondary/tertiary plot. The movie isn’t my genre so don’t have much comments on that, but it’s tolerable and fun, so if you can, go watch it!

[filmgifs]

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 3 (2023) dir. Nia Vardalos

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

[redlegumes]

The most fantasy moment of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

🏛️🏛️🏛️

Toula- We can`t get married. Not like this. lt`s like, when l`m with you... l`m so happy. But my family is so unhappy. And our wedding should be this joyous thing... but it won`t be for them, because it can`t be at our church. So let`s just go somewhere. Please, let`s just go. Let`s just go!

Ian- l love you.

Toula- Why? Why do you love me?

Ian- Because l came alive when l met you.

Toula- But my family...

Ian- You`re a part of your family... and l`ll do anything, whatever it takes to get them to accept me. Because you`re my life now, you`re my whole life now. We`re not going to skulk off and get married... as if we were ashamed of ourselves.

🏛️🏛️🏛️

A partner that accepts you despite your family

Found the gifset! from @cinematv

[c-k-mack]

Nia Vardalos brings us everything we loved from the first two movies plus the beautiful scenery of Greece and a delightful nonbinary character who is not the butt of any jokes (Victory is number one… the best!)

(I didn’t really buy the Paris/Aristotle chemistry, but that’s what fanfics are for - hello Qamar)