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Inside the Cinderella story of ''Greek Wedding'' | 134314__bigfat_l
A 'WEDDING' STORY The comedy, starring voice-over actress Vadalos and TV vet Corbett, was made for $5 million and is close to raking in $100 million
My Big Fat Greek Wedding Illustration by John Cuneo
By Nicholas Fonseca
Nicholas Fonseca
Nicholas Fonseca watches ''Days of Our Lives'' religiously and thinks washing dishes by hand is the cheapest form of therapy on earth.

For The Rock and his desert-storming minions, an April 19 release looked like a sure bet. The biggest contenders at the multiplex for his big-screen bonanza ''The Scorpion King''? Blink-and-you'll-miss-'em indies like ''Enigma,'' ''World Traveler,'' and ''Chelsea Walls.'' But one other movie that opened on that quiet weekend 22 weeks ago is still on the radar: With its unlikely rise to the upper reaches of the box office charts, IFC Films' ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' has become the sleeper success of the year.

And the band shows no signs of quitting for the charming film, which at press time was poised to cross $100 million after a second week of playing bridesmaid at No. 2. ''Nothing like this ever happens,'' says Robert Bucksbaum, president of box office tracking firm ReelSource, noting that the film's most recent per-screen average ($6,119) is higher than when it opened. ''It just boggles the mind.'' In fact, ''Wedding'' has outpaced expected hits like ''Scorpion King,'' which grossed $90.3 million. And since it was made for $5 million, ''Wedding'' could become one of the most profitable films of all time, beside classics like ''Star Wars'' and ''Halloween.''

Last spring, the deck seemed to be stacked against the movie, which had no advance buzz (à la ''Pulp Fiction'' or ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''), no marquee names (TV vet John Corbett and voice-over actress Nia Vardalos), and only fair-to-middling reviews (one critic called it ''overbearing and over-the-top''). Even producer Gary Goetzman, who runs Playtone with Tom Hanks (whose wife, Rita Wilson, first championed Vardalos), baldly admits, ''We had no expectations for this.''

So how did ''Wedding'' achieve its ouzo-soaked success? Well, the cross-country promotional blitz and heaps of patience didn't hurt: IFC orchestrated cast appearances in smaller markets like San Antonio and Cincinnati, and courted Greek organizations to spread the word. ''We did things like the First Friday Club, where we got Greek groups in cities where it played to buy out a show on its opening Friday,'' says Bob Berney, the former IFC marketing chief who oversaw the film's slow rollout. ''They really put up their money and showed up at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. I was impressed.''

This summer's dearth of romantic comedies and an unusually slow August also helped extend the ''Wedding'' banquet. ''Look at the marketplace for the past four months,'' says Artisan Entertainment CEO Amir Malin, whose similarly low-budget ''Blair Witch Project'' scared up $140 million in 1999. ''There haven't been too many films earmarked for an older audience.'' Adds IFC Entertainment prez Jonathan Sehring: ''The word of mouth coupled with the fact that it's funny and clever helped it along.''


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