`BIG FAT GREEK' DVD TO RIVAL THEATRICAL RUN.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Independent film phenomenon ``My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is hitting video stores shelves next Tuesday just in time for Valentine's Day. But there's just one unusual thing: The film is still playing in wide release in more than 1,000 theaters.

To be released on home video while still filling so many seats at the megaplex is unprecedented, several industry experts said Monday.

Last weekend, the romantic comedy was the 15th most popular movie in the marketplace, grossing $1.5 million in its 42nd week of release. Made with a budget of just $5 million, ``Greek Wedding'' had amassed a cumulative gross of $238.5 million to date.

``I think they probably figured that it would have dropped out of the top 15 by the time we got to the end of the year,'' said Scott Hettrick, editor of Video Business, an industry trade publication.

There are no plans to yank the film from theaters next week even as it hits stores, sources said.

The film, released in theaters by IFC Films and on video by HBO, has been the top-selling title at such online retailers as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and WalMart.com for several weeks. Customers who have pre-ordered the title in recent weeks will have the film shipped to them on Feb. 11.

``I don't know of a time where there's been a film this high on the box office chart being released on video,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Inc. ``Normally, the video window gives enough of a time frame between the eventual end of the theatrical release.

Industrywide, the time between the end of a film's theatrical release and home video debut has narrowed in the past year to about six months. Films have almost always played out by then, even such blockbusters as ``Spider-Man.''

But no film since ``Titanic'' has had the same kind of staying power as ``Greek Wedding.'' The romantic comedy about a Greek-American woman (Nia Vardalos) who falls in love with a WASP high school teacher (John Corbett) and struggles to get her eccentric family to accept him opened in April 2002 and became a word-of-mouth box office phenomenon.

Among the records it has set: the highest-grossing independent movie of all time and the biggest-grossing romantic comedy ever released.

``Even now with all the accolades and box office precedents, the movie will have set another precedent by releasing on video while still among the top 15 movies in the country,'' Dergarabedian said. ``This movie has just been a perennial moneymaker.''

While the film is still bringing in customers, it has slowed down in recent weeks, dropping out of the top 10 as a slew of new romantic comedies have hit the marketplace in addition to newer hits such as ``Chicago'' and ``Catch Me if You Can.''

While the home video release will likely end the theatrical run a bit prematurely, experts believe that releasing it just before Valentine's Day was an irresistible marketing opportunity and predict that the film will be a huge seller.

``I think it's going to do very well and be one of the biggest hits of the year so far on video,'' Hettrick said. ``As much money as it's made, there are still an awful lot of people who haven't seen it and are anxious to see it on video.''

It also comes to video just weeks before the premiere of the new CBS comedy ``My Big Fat Greek Life'' which bows on Feb. 24 and stars most of the movie's original cast.

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(color) Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan, center, star in ``My Big Fat Greek Wedding,'' which broke box-office records.