Learning "Greek" (and Loving It)

The little movie that could, made for a slim $5 million and starring previously anonymous stand-up comic Nia Vardalos and Sex and the City hunk John Corbett, is the box-office story of the summer.

Going into this weekend, Greek Wedding has grossed $67.7 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Unlike big-time studio releases, its haul hasn't come from a blockbuster opening weekend, but from slow and steady business since debuting in a handful of theaters in April.

The IFC Films release, which follows the travails of a young Greek woman (Vardalos), her obnoxious clan (including 'N Sync's Joey Fatone) and the non-Greek vegetarian (Corbett) she falls in love with, climbed to fourth place in last weekend's box-office race. By mid-week, it was in third place, behind only Signs and XXX.

Its power ranking could go even higher over the Labor Day holiday, with the flick expanding to more than 1,600 theaters, up from 1,000 just two weeks ago.

"The first time it went into the Top 10 was the weekend [Star Wars: Episode II--] Attack of the Clones opened," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracking film, Exhibitor Relations. "And now...when things are slowing down...it's still thriving."

At this pace, box-office observers say Greek Wedding could wind up grossing more than $100 million in the United States alone. (As might be expected, the flick's a bit of a hit in Greece, where it's that nation's second highest-grossing film.)

The secret to Greek Wedding, say Industry analysts, is its Greek-ness. Make that, it's universal Greek-ness.

"It's a movie that everyone can appreciate regardless of their ethnic background," says Dergarabedian. "In a sea of typical summer fare, it really stands out as a more humane, intimate and sort of an old-fashioned type of movie. It's just one of those movies that touches everybody. People can see themselves in it."

At the center of this buzz-storm is Vardalos.

An alum of Chicago's Second City comedy troupe, Vardalos, 39, first went off on Greek weddings in a 1998 one-woman stage play she wrote and starred in. The production drew on experiences of her own traditional Greek wedding, replete with broken plates, buffet table after buffet table of food, and of course, noisy family members.

As Hollywood luck would have it, Rita Wilson, who not only happens to be Tom Hanks' wife, but Greek, saw the production, loved it, and insisted her Oscar-winning hubby go see it, too. One thing led to another, and Vardalos presented the Hollywood power couple with a script she had written based on the play. Wilson and Hanks signed on as producers, under Hanks' Playtone banner.

"I thought I could just die happy that I made a Greek-American movie and I actually got to star in it and that's it," Vardalos told the Associated Press.

Now that My Big Fat Greek Wedding has made her a household name, Vardalos says she's considering writing a sequel that would be set in Greece. She's also fielding calls from TV networks wanting to adapt the movie into a sitcom.

And the honeymoon rolls on...