Andrew Ahn Said ‘I Do’ to a Wedding Banquet Remake
ByJennifer Zhan,
a Vulture news blogger covering music, internet culture, and TV.
Photo: Luka Cyprian / Bleecker Street
Will this Wedding get a good reception? Fire Island director Andrew Ahn is remaking Ang Lee’s acclaimed 1993 queer rom-com The Wedding Banquet, and there are already some engaging first-look images to prove it. Ahn told Vanity Fair that he was inspired to create his own version of the filmafter watching his brother get married. “I was wondering as a gay man if I would ever have anything like that — would the culture allow a queer version of this?” he said. “This was my way of having a Korean wedding — to make a movie about it.” So what can we expect from the new nuptials? Below, here’s what we know about The Wedding Banquet remake, including who’s in the cast, how it will differ from the original film’s plot, what the set was like, and when it’s coming out.
Who’s in the cast of real and fake couples?
Per Vanity Fair, Ahn’s screenplay — which he co-wrote with original Wedding Banquet producer James Schamus — focuses on a chosen family in Seattle. SNLsmoocher Bowen Yang stars as Chris, who lives with his partner Min (Han Gi-chan) in a guesthouse that belongs to their best friends. That would be Angela (extremely offlineStar Wars star Kelly Marie Tran) and her girlfriend Lee, played by Killers of the Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone. Angela and Lee want to have a baby through costly IVF treatments, while Min is feeling pressure to return to his native country of Korea to run his family business. The two-in-one solution? Min and Angela will get “married” and have a traditional Korean ceremony that hopefully leads to him getting a green card and her getting fertility treatment money. Family members also fly in for the big day, including Min’s grandmother (Youn Yuh-jung) and Angela’s mother (Joan Chen).
Will there be changes to the plot of the original Wedding Banquet?
Yup. Ang Lee’s 1993 film, set in New York, follows a bisexual man named Wai-Tung. He has a boyfriend, but decides to marry a woman to get her a green card — and get his matchmaking parents off his back. When Wai-Tung’s mom and dad visit and want to throw him a wedding banquet, he ends up hiding his real relationship. Notably, the couple that wants to have a baby through IVF in Ahn’s remake is a completely new addition to the plot. Maybe that’s part of the reason Tran told Vanity Fair that she thinks Ahn’s version is “even more queer” than the original?
How does Ang Lee feel about this remake?
He’s all for it. “It warms my heart to see how my film from so many years ago has inspired a new generation to reimagine a new and different version,” he said in an April statement to Variety. “I look forward to seeing what Andrew Ahn and his wonderful cast create.”
Are there any first-look images yet?
Five of ‘em so far. We get to see Angela, Lee, Min, and Chris hanging out with their respective partners and as a group. Plus, Angela’s mom looks ecstatic next to lion dancers, and Min’s grandmother seems startled by something happening offscreen.
Photo: Luka Cyprian / Bleecker Street
Photo: Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Photo: Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Photo: Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
Photo: Luka Cyprian/Bleecker Street
What was it like on set?
Very emotional, apparently. According to Vanity Fair’s David Canfield, Ahn wept while addressing the cast and crew the day the wedding was going to be shot. Canfield said he saw several other people get vulnerable both on and off camera during his set visit. Tran, for example, came out to him. “I haven’t said this publicly yet, but I’m a queer person,” she said. “The thing that really excited me about it was I got to play a person that I felt like I knew. I don’t feel like I’m acting at all in this movie…. I’m here doing this amazing movie with these amazing people. I’ve never been in a queer space before. I’ve never truly felt this accepted before.” Canfield saw other types of tears, too, reporting that people cried of “uproarious laughter” because of a funny sequence involving vomit.
Is there a release date?
Not yet. But according to Deadline, Bleecker Street and ShivHans Pictures have slated The Wedding Banquet to release at some point during 2025. We’ll be patiently waiting to receive our save-the-(release)-date card.
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