Why Andrew Ahn Gave ‘The Wedding Banquet’ A Korean Makeover

When Andrew Ahn was eight years old he accompanied his family to the video store where his mother saw the VHS for the film The Wedding Banquet.

“So my mom said, hey, this is that movie with asian people that white people are watching,” said ahn. “We should see what about.”

The 1993 film tells the story of a Taiwanese man who can’t be honest about his sexuality. He marries a woman from Mainland China so she can get her green card and also his parents will stop bothering him. It seems like a good plan until his parents arrive and want to plan his wedding banquet, which means he has to explain his marriage scheme to his gay partner.

“So we rent it, not knowing that it was a queer film, and we watched it as a family,” said Ahn. “And it kind of blew my mind as a nascent gay boy. I still remember the very first scene of the film, which is winston chao at the gym, but i don’t know why that that’s it to have been the first gay film that I’d ever seen. The fact That it was a gay and asian film feels so special to me that the earliest representation that I wasn’t helping think that and it set me on the right path. So, it really feels very full circle and meaningful to reimagine ang lee’s film for Today. “

A lot has changed in 30+ years. To bring the story up to date, ahn worked with James Schamus, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Lee. Ahn describes the rewrite as very organic, a storyline that arose naturally as a result of talking to schamus and the producers.

“We chatted about what felt like a natural outgrowth of the film,” said Ahn. “So I thought, what if the bride in the original film was also queer and had a partner and what if instead of accidentally having a baby, this was a couple of planning to have a baby. Of course we had to acknowledge how much has changed for the queer community since 1993. One of those things is that gay people can get married now. So there was a fake straight wedding. And I thought about how in my own life That we can, now that we have that option, do we actually want to take it? Should we? “

There’s naturally a lot of pressure and expectation in taking that next step in commitment.

“So there was just something that really started to click into place,” Said Ahn. “Of course there was a lot of work that we had to do after that. But at its foundation, it very quickly became about these two couples and one couple wrestling with this question of marriage and one couple a child.”

In Ahn’s 2025 Version Bowen Yang plays Chris, a birdwatcher and PhD procrastinator, who loves his boyfriend, Min, but has commitment issues. Min, played by Han Gi-chan, is Korean and worries his family will cut him off if he announces he’s gay. Still, he really wants to marry chris and his student visa is about to run out.

He hatches a plan with Chris’ Best Friend Angela, played by Kelly Marie Tran, and her girlfriend, Lee, played by Lily Gladstone. They are trying to have a baby but the money has run out. If Angela Will Fake Marry Him, he can get a green card and will pay for Lily’s IVF. As in the original movie, it’s a great plan until min’s grandmother shows up and want them to have a traditional wedding. In the 1993 film, the characters were chinese, but ahn, the son of Korean immigrants, wanted to bring his own culture into the mix. It didn’t hurt that so much Korean media-films, drama, and k-pop-has been trending for a while.

“I’m Korean,” said Ahn. “I wanted to show a Korean wedding. That was a way for me to personalize the film and have it feel different from the lee’s version, which I think portrays a Chinese cultural wedding, so beautifully. But I do like my experience. But I will admit That’s part of the sales pitch for this movie was that Korean Culture is so hot right now and I’m very fortunate to ride that wave. Even if it wasn’t popular, I would still push this vision because my Korean Cultural Identity and my sexuality can sometimes sit Uncomfortably. So, in Making Films Like this, I’m trying to really reconcile and show that these identities can exist within one person. “

The Casting for his film is Pitch Perfect. Every one of the characters feels real, endearingly familiar. They approach the idea of ​​marriage and parenthood with equal measures of terror and optimism. The love they share is obvious and the dialogue is Sharp and Witty. Its the second time ahn has cast bowen yang in a leading role. The Comedian and Writer also appears in his film Fire Island.

“I love Bowen,” said Ahn. “I think that he’s so incredibly generous as a performer. He really brings out the best in himself and in everybody else. There you have something about when you know it. And I think that’s a really rare talent skill, charisma that He possesses. And I think for me, it’s this joy of giving him the opportunity to play in a different sandbox than Saturday Night Live. I love this ensemble. They’re incredible. “

To cast the film ahn worked with casting director jenny jue, who also cast director Bong joon ho‘s Okja and Snowpiercer.

“She knows the asian american community so well and put together this avengers cast for this romcom,” said Ahn. “And I think that it was so important to us that we created a family. I think that’s so it is so hard to find actors that we have to find the actors that it could really be that they couldn’t have the film. But Lily gladstone’s So incredible, just like an insane talent, and I’m so happy to have worked with her. Kelly Marie Tran, I love the way she balances the comedy and drama mix. And then there’s a legend of Chinese cinema, and a legend of Korean Cinema, and a legend of Korean Cinema, Youn Yuh-jung. “

The ensemble creates a very enjoyable rom-com about love, commitment, growing up and creating a family with the people you choose.

“It was the privilege of a lifetime to work with this cast, said ahn.” I’m really excited for people to get to see how all of them come together to create this kind of strange, spiky, dynamic Family that still still somehow feels incredibly cohesive. “

The Wedding Banquet is available in theaters on April 18.