Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral
UK theatrical release poster
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMike Newell
Written byRichard Curtis
Produced byDuncan Kenworthy
Starring
CinematographyMichael Coulter
Edited byJon Gregory
Music byRichard Rodney Bennett
Production
companies
Distributed byRank Film Distributors
Release dates
  • 20 January 1994 (1994-01-20) (Sundance)
  • 13 May 1994 (1994-05-13) (United Kingdom)
Running time
117 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£3 million[1]
($4.4 million[2])
Box office£218.5 milion
($245.7 million[2])

Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of friends through a number of social occasions as they each encounter romance. Andie MacDowell co-stars as Charles's love interest Carrie, with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave, and Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles.

The film was made in six weeks, cost under £3 million,[1] and became an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in history at the time, with worldwide box office total of $245.7 million, and receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, Grant won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the film won the BAFTA Awards Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Scott Thomas. The film's success propelled Hugh Grant to international stardom, particularly in the United States.[3]

In 1999, Four Weddings and a Funeral was placed 23rd on the British Film Institute's 100 greatest British films of the 20th century. In 2016, Empire magazine ranked it 21st in their list of the 100 best British films.[4] A 2017 poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and critics for Time Out magazine ranked it the 74th best British film ever.[5]

Curtis reunited director Newell and the surviving cast for a 25th anniversary reunion Comic Relief short entitled One Red Nose Day and a Wedding, which aired in the UK during Red Nose Day on 15 March 2019.[6]

  1. ^ a b BBC Radio 4 – The Reunion – Four Weddings and a Funeral, 13 April 2014
  2. ^ a b Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference 20 Years On was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The 100 Best British films". Empire. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ^ "The 100 best British movies". Time Out. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (5 December 2018). "'Four Weddings and a Funeral' Cast And Creators To Reunite After 25 Years For Red Nose Day Short Film". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 1 March 2019.