'Father Of The Bride' Remake Will Be Directed By Gaz Alazraki
The Father of the Bride remake has found its director. Gaz Alazraki, who helmed Club de Cuervos, is set to direct the pic for Warner Bros., with this latest incarnation focusing on a Cuban American family. The original Father of the Bride opened in 1950 with Spencer Tracy in the lead, and was followed by a sequel in 1951, Father's Little Dividend. In 1991, the film was remade with Steve Martin. That film also got a sequel, 1995's Father of the Bride Part II. Late last year, Netflix released a "mini-sequel" called Father of the Bride Part 3(ish).
The news comes from Deadline, which reports that Gaz Alazraki has been brought in to direct the movie as the project picks up steam at Warner Bros. The report states that "The film will tell the story of a father coming to grips with his daughter's upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family. It will be more of a rom-com than previous versions of film. While this will mark the third iteration of the story, sources say this will be more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy pic and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s."
In the original 1950 film, which was based on the novel by Edward Streeter, "doting, middle-class working, father Stanley Banks" learns that "his beautiful daughter Kay is engaged to Buckley Dunstan," which leads to "a series of comical difficulties" as "Stan navigates a range of wedding planning problems ranging from monetary to emotional, all while his wife Ellie tries to keep the peace and remain calm. His love for his daughter grows as Stan realizes he is the father of the bride, and that she has grown up."
In Father's Little Dividend (which I think we can all agree is a terrible title for a movie), "One year following the wedding of their daughter, Stanley and Ellie Banks are surprised with news that their daughter Kay is pregnant. While everyone fawns over Kay and the excitement of the upcoming newborn, Stan retrieves as he is not yet ready to be a grandfather. When the family continues to prepare for the coming baby's nursery and debates over what name it shall have, Stan finds himself being the one that Kay turns to for help because of his mellow facade. In helping his daughter realize that she is ready to be a mother, Stan realizes that he too can find excitement in the coming events."
The 1991 remake was mostly the same story as the original but updated to be more modern for the '90s. There, the father character's name was changed to George Banks. Once again, it deals with the father character coming to terms with his daughter's big wedding. Also, Martin Short shows up and does a weird voice. Father of the Bride Part II has George learning he's going to be both a grandfather and a new father. Hilarity ensues.
Will there be an audience for yet another remake of Father of the Bride? I guess we'll see! Matt Lopez is penning the script of the new movie, which doesn't have a release date just yet.