It was the movie a decade in the making—in more ways than one.
Nine years after Pretty Woman made Julia Roberts a superstar and turned Richard Gere into one of Hollywood's most sought-after leading men, the iconic on-screen pair finally reunited in Runaway Bride.
Released on July 30, 1999, Roberts and Gere once again teamed up with their Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall, who passed away in 2016, for the romantic-comedy about a small town girl so afraid of commitment that she's dashed from the altar three times and the jaded divorced newspaper columnist determined to see her run for a fourth time. Naturally, they fall in love.
Fans sprinted to the theater to see the pair's chemistry, making Runaway Bride, which had been in the works for over a decade with many other celebrities attached to star at some point, a bigger blockbuster hit than Pretty Woman, which was released in 1990.
But just because it made more money than Pretty Woman doesn't mean it was more successful, as Runaway Bride failed to captivate critics (earning just a 46 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and even had one of its stars later admitting it just didn't capture the magic of their previous film. (Plus, one of Roberts' other iconic rom-coms—Notting Hill—came out just weeks before.)
Still, thanks to Roberts and Gere's effortless charm and charisma—both individually and combined—and Marshall's knack for the genre, Runaway Bride has secured a spot as one of Hollywood's most enduring romantic comedies, even if it was almost never made and had a different ending at one point.
From the A-listers that were initially supposed to star in the movie in 1991 to Roberts' own experience as a runaway bride, here are 20 fun facts you might not know about Runaway Bride...
Runaway Bride is available to stream on Amazon Prime.