Some stories truly are timeless, aren’t they? The original novel Father of the Bride was first published by author Edward Streeter in 1949, and was swiftly adapted into a 1950 film by Vincente Minnelli, starring Spencer Tracy as an old-fashioned man fretting over his daughter’s marriage to modern beau. The story was subsequently remade as the well-known 1991 Father of the Bride from Charles Shyer, starring Steve Martin as a neurotic dad obsessing over every aspect of his daughter’s wedding, while being stuck with an ever-mounting bill he can’t afford. And now, just over 30 years later, Father of the Bride is back yet again—and this time, it’s Andy Garcia’s turn to be put through the wringer.
One might expect this Warner Bros/HBO Max adaptation to thus look terribly familiar, but the first trailer (which you can view below) actually looks surprisingly distinct from the early ‘90s version, indicating the story has been pretty substantially reimagined. For one thing, our cast are predominantly Latinx performers, with Garcia as the titular father, actress Adria Arjona (Good Omens) as his daughter, and the legendary Gloria Estefan as Garcia’s embattled wife. Only this time around, Garcia’s own marriage is on the rocks, and he and his wife conspire to hide their impending divorce from their daughter in the name of getting through the wedding smoothly.
There also looks to be a more overt class commentary going on here, as the fiance’s family looks to be exorbitantly wealthy, and we’re talking “multi-million dollar super yacht wealthy.” One can only imagine that the film must have been pitched to HBO execs as Crazy Rich Latinos, and it’s easy to say why they would have jumped on the potential of such a concept. In an age when high-profile romantic comedies are few and far between, it does feel like there’s a market that is rabid for films like this.
In addition to the already mentioned players, Father of the Bride stars a bevy of up-and-coming Hispanic stars, such as Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta, Macarena Achaga and Ana Fabrega. SNL’s Chloe Fineman is also present, taking on the “ostentatious wedding planner” role memorably inhabited by Martin Short in the 1991 version. Father of the Bride hits HBO Max on June 16, 2022, so check out the trailer below as we gear up for summer wedding season.