American Wedding (known as American Pie 3: The Wedding or American Pie: The Wedding, in some countries) is a 2003 American sex comedy film written by Adam Herz and directed by Jesse Dylan. It is the sequel to American Pie (1999) and American Pie 2 (2001), and the third of the American Pie franchise.
The film's main plot focuses on the wedding ceremony of Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan), while its subplot centers on Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), and his outrageous antics including his attempt to organize a bachelor party, teaching Jim to dance for the wedding, and competing with Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) to win the heart of Michelle's sister, Cadence (January Jones). It is the last film in the series to be written by Herz, who conceptualized the franchise, and also the only theatrical film in the series in which Chris Klein (Oz), Chris Owen (Sherman), Mena Suvari (Heather), Tara Reid (Vicky), Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia) and Natasha Lyonne (Jessica) do not appear.
Released on August 1, 2003 by Universal Pictures, American Wedding is the lowest-grossing installment in the theatrical American Pie film series, although it was still a box office success, grossing $231 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. Like the previous two films, American Wedding received mixed reviews from critics, who were again divided on its humor, but praised the cast's performances, especially Scott's.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack includes songs by Van Morrison, Blue October, The Working Title, Foo Fighters, Feeder, Avril Lavigne, American Hi-Fi, Sum 41, the All-American Rejects, Joseph Arthur, New Found Glory, and Hot Action Cop. Everclear, Badly Drawn Boy and The Libertines also have songs in the feature. Note that most songs used were already singles. And, this is the first film to feature the song "Laid" (Matt Nathanson covering the band James) in both the trailers and the opening sequence. Notably, it is also the only film in the series to not play the song "Mrs. Robinson" in a scene where Finch has sex with Stifler's mother.
The song "Into the Mystic", played at the end of the film when Jim and Michelle take to the dance floor at the reception, begins as Van Morrison's recording, but midway through it changes to The Wallflowers' cover version due to licensing reasons. The band's lead singer Jakob Dylan is the brother of the film's director Jesse Dylan.
The film's soundtrack peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Songs that appear during Stifler's dance in the gay bar:
- "Beat It" - Michael Jackson (only few seconds)
- "Maniac" - Michael Sembello
- "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - Eurythmics
- "Venus" - Bananarama
- "The Reflex" - Duran Duran
Songs that appear during the bachelor party:
- "Summertime Girls" - Baha Men
- "Freakin You" - Jungle Brothers
Release
American Wedding was released in the United States on August 1, 2003.
Home media
American Wedding premiered on DVD and VHS on January 2, 2004. It grossed $15.85 million on DVD and was the number seven DVD rental in 2004.
The film debuted on Blu-ray alongside its predecessors on March 13, 2012.
Reception
Box office
American Wedding opened at #1 at the box office with $33,369,440. It dropped by 53.7% the next weekend, landing at #3 behind the new releases of S.W.A.T. and Freaky Friday. Closing about 3.5 months later (November 20, 2003), the film had grossed a domestic total of $104,565,114 and $126,884,089 overseas for a worldwide total of $231,449,203, based on a $55 million budget. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on 34 critics, which indicates "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Robert Koeler of Variety compared it to the works of John Waters and called it a "strong finish" for the franchise. Roger Ebert rated it 3/4 stars and wrote that the film "is proof of the hypothesis that no genre is beyond redemption." Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote that the film "struggles so hard to be tasteless that it's almost quaint." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle rated it 2/5 stars and called it strained and desperate to find jokes.
Awards and nominations
Wins
- 2004 - MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence (Seann William Scott)
- 2004 - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain (Seann William Scott) and Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You To See
Nominations
- 2004 - Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie – Comedy, Choice Movie Actor – Comedy (Seann William Scott), Choice Movie Actress – Comedy (Alyson Hannigan), Choice Movie Blush (Seann William Scott), Choice Movie Hissy Fit (Jason Biggs), & Choice Movie Liplock (Jason Biggs & Alyson Hannigan)
Sequel
In October 2008, a fourth theatrical American Pie film was greenlit by Universal Pictures. The film entered pre-production in April 2010. Despite being absent from Wedding, lead ensemble cast members Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth, and Natasha Lyonne all signed on to return for the fourth installment.
The film, titled American Reunion, was released on April 6, 2012. Klein, Suvari, and Reid all had lead ensemble roles, whilst Lyonne and Elizabeth had cameo appearances.