You might not support every remake of the classics, but this one is sure to get two big thumbs up for nostalgic reasons alone. HBO Max has a Father of the Bride remake coming out, and it looks like a perfect blend of the familiar and the new.
The remake is, of course, about a father’s bond with his daughter.
The premise for this remake of Father of the Bride, much like the original 1950 Spencer Tracy movie and the 1991 remake with comedy genius Steve Martin, is all about a father and his daughter. Well it’s really about a father and his long-suffering wife and his daughter’s new fiancé and a wedding that gets out of control, but it all comes back to him’s dad and his daughter.
This time around, the dad is Cuban-American Billy (played by Andy Garcia), a traditional man who does not do well with change. His wife Ingrid is played by legendary singer Gloria Estefan, who might not be as long-suffering as wives from the previous versions. De Ella Daughter Sophie is played by Adra Adjona and her Mexican fiancé Adan is played by Diego Boneta. And please watch for some amazing performances from Saturday night Live‘s Chloe Fineman as the wedding planner, as well as Ruben Rubasa of I Think You Should Leave fame. He plays a relative of Sophie’s and he’s bound to be a scene-stealer.
the Father of the Bride trailer brings up new family struggles.
the Father of the Bride trailer sees some familiar issues right out of the gate; Sophie comes home to tell her parents about her she’s getting married to a man they do n’t know. Billy doesn’t like it, especially when he finds out she was the one who proposed. “Can you do that?” he asks. “Does anyone do that?”
But then things converge a little. Billy and Ingrid are going to marriage counseling, for instance, and she makes it clear she’s not interested in continuing the marriage. In fact, they’re essentially putting on a front until Sophie gets married herself. Also unlike the original, Sophie does not want a big wedding and instead says she and Adan will pay for it themselves. Billy insists on paying, so basically anything that happens from that point forward is his own fault.
The remake will honor two cultures.
Beyond the wedding there is another story going on; the blending of cultures. Adam’s Mexican heritage and Billy’s Cuban one. “There was both an honor and an obligation to deliver a story that’s within the Latin cultures, in this case, the Cuban and the Mexican, trying to relate to one another,” Garcia told Entertainment Weekly. “There’s an obligation to do it right, represent it without stereotypes, in a way that, although it’s culturally specific, its themes are universal.”
the Father of the Bride remake premieres in June.
Father of the Bride will premiere on HBO Max on June 16, just in time for wedding season. If you’re feeling nostalgic and want to watch the 1991 version with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, it’s available on Disney+. Because you can never get enough feel-good movies full of nostalgia and humor and sweetness, right?