Andy Garcia To Star In Cuban American 'Father Of The Bride' Remake
It's time for another trip down the aisle. Andy Garcia is set to star in Warner Bros.' latest Father of the Bride remake, which will center on a Cuban-American family. It will be the third iteration of this story, following the 1950 Spencer Tracy-starring film and the 1991 Steve Martin version.
Deadline reports that Garcia has closed a deal to star in and executive produce Warner Bros.' Cuban-American Father of the Bride remake. Gaz Alazraki, who helmed Club de Cuervos, has been tapped to direct Father of the Bride, which has been penned by Matt Lopez. Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B, the production company behind Oscar-nominated Minari, are producing.
"I'm very excited to join The Father of the Bride, a beloved film that has brought so much joy to so many over the years and to represent my Cuban culture and heritage in this story," Garcia said in a statement. "I commend Warner Bros. for their foresight and celebrate this opportunity they have created."
Per Deadline, "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." Deadline also notes that this latest remake will be "more in the vein of the original Spencer Tracy pic and not the Steve Martin franchise from the 1990s."
Father of the Bride is a classic comedy of manners — the original 1950 film earned Tracy an Oscar nomination, alongside nods for Best Picture and Best Screenplay. The 1991 Father of the Bride was more of a slapstick comedy, but even by 1991 the premise was starting to feel a little dated. However, a Cuban-American focus is a smart choice for a remake; the chance for greater cultural representation aside, it could potentially breathe fresh energy into an old-fashioned notion of a dad being protective of his soon-to-be-wedded daughter. And any chance for Andy Garcia to play a silver fox (after his wonderful surprise appearance in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again) is fine by me.
Warner Bros. is not the only studio hoping to remake Father of the Bride. In 2019, Disney announced that it was developing its own Father of the Bride remake for its streaming service Disney+, though considering their track record on remakes, it will be far more sanitized and far less interesting than Andy Garcia doing pratfalls.