'WEDDING' BECOMES BIGGEST INDIE FILM EVER.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

``My Big Fat Greek Wedding,'' the low-budget comedy that is the surprise box office smash of 2002, became the highest-grossing independent film in movie history on Friday, surpassing the $140.5 million grossed by ``The Blair Witch Project'' in 1999.

As of Friday, ``Wedding'' had grossed a record total of $141.9 million and is expected to continue to perform strongly for several weeks to come.

``I think people have just fallen in love with the film,'' said Paul Brooks, president of Gold Circle Films, which co-financed the film with HBO. ``We're very grateful that audiences have embraced it. It's just one of those rare experiences when people respond and continue to respond.''

The romantic comedy, about a Greek-American woman (Nia Vardalos) who falls in love with a WASP high school English teacher (John Corbett) and struggles to get her eccentric family to accept him, has enjoyed nearly six months in theaters, picking up unexpected steam along the way.

During its remarkable run, the movie has drawn steadily growing audiences, despite having to compete at the megaplex with blockbusters ranging from ``Spider-Man'' to ``Scooby-Doo'' to ``Signs.''

The film was quietly released on April 19 by ICF Films, and word-of- mouth quickly began to build. As the months went on, ``Wedding'' slowly began playing to packed houses in a growing number of theaters. The film picked up major momentum during August and September when the summer blockbusters began to fade from sight and is now playing on nearly 2,000 screens.

``They just paced it perfectly,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations Co. ``At the end of the summer, they started expanding it wider and wider. The timing was perfect because a lot of older viewers who would want to see a film like that sometimes stay away during the summer because of the crowds.''

Dergarabedian said it is not inconceivable that the film could reach the $200 million mark, although the competition is becoming more intense with the comedy ``Sweet Home Alabama,'' which opened to record September numbers last weekend, and ``Red Dragon,'' which could set the record for an October opening this weekend.

In ``Wedding,'' Vardalos essentially plays herself in a film based on a one-woman stage play about her life. Actress Rita Wilson saw the play in Los Angeles and suggested that it would make a good film. Wilson is one of the producers of ``Wedding,'' as is her husband, Tom Hanks.

The film, which had a production budget of just $5 million, became one of the rare movies to cross the $100 million without ever having been No. 1 at the weekend box office.

``The film has just kept performing consistently and kept crossing these box office milestones,'' Dergarabedian said. ``I compare this to 'Titanic.' Even though 'Titanic' opened bigger, it also grew over time. This film is the same way; it's just playing without any kind of slowdown.

``You have a lot of group repeat viewing. The communal nature of a comedy makes it more fun to see with a crowd.''

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A BIG FAT INDIE HIT

Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.

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