Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang Exciting New Project
Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone will co-star next to Emmy nominee Bowen Yang in the remake of The Wedding Banquet, directed by Andrew Ahn.
the wedding banquet remake with bowen. lily and kelly as girlfriends. youn yuhjung as the grandma… oh i’m so seated!!!!! would recommend watching the original too https://t.co/GmuIv0FmoO
— toni (@roykeeleys) April 26, 2024
The premise, revealed by Variety, follows Min after he is rejected by his fiancé. He offers his best friend Angela to marry him to get a green card in exchange for payments for her girlfriend’s IVF treatments. However, the film takes a turn after Min’s grandmother surprises them by flying from South Korea to throw a traditional Korean wedding banquet.
In addition to Gladstone and Yang, the cast also includes Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn, Kelly Marie Tran, and Joan Chen. Yuh-jung won the Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in 2021 for her role in the South Korean film Minari. Furthermore, Tran is known for her role as Raya in the Disney animated film Raya and the Last Dragon. Lastly, Chen is a four-time Golden Horse Film Festival winner for her roles, including The Home Song Stories. Also, fans are excited to see Gladstone and Tran as a sapphic couple.
not to alarm the lesbians but Kelly Marie Tran and Lily Gladstone are playing girlfriends in the upcoming remake of the Wedding Banquet pic.twitter.com/vTh2G2EqZj
— Bella (@bellaxlilyg) April 23, 2024
As the director, Ahn is also the writer alongside James Schamus, one of the three writers of the Oscar-nominated original The Wedding Banquet with Ang Lee and Neil Peng.
Even though the original film was released in 1993, when queer stories weren’t as common in media, the film still has a large fanbase due to its representation of both Asian culture and LGBTQ+ culture, on top of showing the intersectionality between the two. The new version is expected to follow similar premises.
Ahn posted the news about the cast on his Instagram with a caption: “It was the first time I saw a gay Asian character on screen. It means so much to me to continue its legacy with such an incredible cast and team!” Yang also posted the news to his Instagram feed.
Filming is scheduled to kick off in Vancouver in May. No further details have been disclosed to the public. In the meantime, fans can stream the original Wedding Banquet on Prime Video.
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