The cast of “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.Photo:Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock;
Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock;
Four Weddings and a Funeralis turning 30!
To celebrate Saturday’s anniversary of the award-winning romantic comedy that launchedHugh Grant’s career, PEOPLE asked screenwriterRichard Curtisabout its enduring impact.
“I think perhaps, if it lasts, it’s probably for the same reason it got off the ground in the first place,” says the British filmmaker, 67. “A combination of love, friendship, marriage, funerals — things almost everyone has some stake in.”
In 1994,Four Weddingsbroke box office records, becoming the highest-grossing British film in history at the time. It earned Best Picture and Original Screenplay Academy Award nominations, and Grant won prizes at both the Golden Globes and BAFTA Film Awards.
While his American love interest onscreen,Andie MacDowell, was already a big star stateside, the movie also raised the profiles of John Hannah,Kristin Scott Thomas, Rowan Atkinson, Simon Callow and more.
Grant, 63, has expressed similar sentiments. In a 2016conversationwith the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, he revealed that an early cut of the movie tested poorly with audiences. “I thought we’d screwed it up,” he said. “We all thought this was the worst film that’s ever been perpetrated. We’re gonna go and emigrate to Peru when it comes out so no one can actually find us.”
But a later cut of the movie delighted audiences in California ahead of its 1994 Sundance Film Festival premiere, signaling the movie’s success to come. “Everyone loved it, and it was a great surprise,” said Grant.
Andie MacDowell and Hugh Grant in “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.Gramercy Pictures/Getty
Gramercy Pictures/Getty
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In his 2023 memoirDid I Ever Tell You This?, actorSam Neillremembered that Granthad predicted to himthatFour Weddingswas “a piece of complete crap.”
Grant later admitted toIndieWirethat Neill’s recollection was accurate. “It’s true that we were all sure we’d made a giant turkey till the film had its first previews,” he said last year. “I was clearly wrong and the film changed my life.”
Curtis, who helped co-found UK child hunger charity Comic Relief, is busy organizing the upcomingRed Nose Daycampaign show, to be held March 15.
(Left-right:) Richard Curtis, Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, John Hannah and Duncan Kenworthy in 1995.PA Images via Getty
PA Images via Getty
Reflecting onFour Weddings’ status as a classic for going on 30 years, the Oscar-nominated writer says it’s a source of nostalgia for many fans. “Perhaps now,” he quips, “it’s nice for people to see what Hugh Grant looked like when he was young and handsome."
source: people.com
