Editing Four Weddings and a Funeral (section)

==Production==
===Writing===
Screenwriter [[Richard Curtis]]'s own experiences as a wedding attendee inspired ''Four Weddings and a Funeral''.<ref name="15 Facts">{{cite news |author=Cormier |first=Roger |date=10 January 2016 |title=15 Splendid Facts About Four Weddings and a Funeral |website=Mentalfloss.com |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/73509/15-splendid-facts-about-four-weddings-and-funeral |access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref> According to Curtis, he began writing the script at age 34, after realising he had attended 65 weddings in an 11-year period. At one wedding he was propositioned by a fellow guest, but he turned her down and forever regretted it; accordingly, he based the origin of Charles and Carrie's romance on that situation.<ref name="15 Facts"/>

It took Curtis 17 drafts to reach the final version. He initially planned the film as 'Four Weddings and a Honeymoon' but introduced the funeral theme on the advice of [[Helen Fielding]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - Screenshot - Eight of the most memorable movie weddings |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4FlZmzjqKdWN7HPVlKVN11y/eight-of-the-most-memorable-movie-weddings |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> He has commented on director Mike Newell's influence; "I come from a school where making it funny is what matters. Mike was obsessed with keeping it real. Every character, no matter how small, has a story, not just three funny lines. It's a romantic film about love and friendship that swims in a sea of jokes."<ref name="Anne Thompson">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.ew.com/article/1994/05/06/four-weddings-and-funeral-surprise-hit/| title='Four Weddings and a Funeral' A Surprise Hit |author-link=Anne Thompson (film journalist)|first=Anne|last=Thompson| magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]| date=6 May 1994| access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref>

Curtis chose to omit any mention of the characters' careers, because he did not think a group of friends would realistically discuss their jobs while together at a wedding.<ref name="15 Facts"/>

===Casting===
Curtis, Newell and the producers began the casting process for ''Four Weddings'' in early 1992. [[Alex Jennings]] was cast as Charles, but funding for the production fell through in mid-1992.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fitzherbert |first=Henry |date=15 November 2015 |title=Alex Jennings: I'm Dame Maggie's straight man...I love it |url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/619406/alex-jennings-the-lady-in-the-van-dame-maggie |website=[[Daily Express]]}}</ref> Jennings would eventually go on to play a supporting role in Mindy Kaling's [[Four Weddings and a Funeral (miniseries)|2019 television miniseries adaptation of the film]]. The team continued holding auditions for over a year, seeing roughly 70 actors for the role of Charles before Hugh Grant.<ref name="20 Years On">{{cite news |author=Lamont |first=Tom |date=26 April 2014 |title=Four Weddings and a Funeral 20 Years On: Richard Curtis Remembers |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/apr/27/four-weddings-and-a-funeral-20-years-richard-curtis-remembers |access-date=30 June 2018}}</ref>

Grant was ready to give up acting as a career when he received the script for ''Four Weddings and a Funeral''; he stated in 2016 that: "I wasn't really getting any work at all, and then to my great surprise this script came through the letterbox from my agent, and it was really good. And I rang on and said there must be a mistake, you've sent me a good script."<ref name="SAG-AFTRA Foundation">{{cite video| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3lUJt4KmJw&t=959s| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/y3lUJt4KmJw| archive-date=7 November 2021 | url-status=live| title=Conversations with Hugh Grant| author=SAG-AFTRA Foundation| publisher=[[YouTube]]| date=19 August 2016| access-date=27 June 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Initially, writer Richard Curtis, who had modelled the character of Charles after himself, was opposed to casting Grant in the role, because he thought Grant was too handsome. Curtis favoured casting [[Alan Rickman]], but Rickman refused to audition. Curtis was eventually persuaded by Newell and the producers to approve Grant's casting.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wiseman |first=Andreas |date=14 March 2019 |title='Four Weddings and a Funeral' at 25: Richard Curtis, Working Title et al Recall a Film That Transformed the UK Biz |url=https://deadline.com/2019/03/four-weddings-funeral-richard-curtis-working-title-mike-newell-british-industry-1202575370/ |website=[[Deadline (website)|Deadline]]}}</ref>

[[Jeanne Tripplehorn]] was originally cast as Carrie, but she had to drop out before filming when her mother died.<ref>{{cite news |author=Whitworth |first=Melissa |date=7 June 2006 |title=How Jeanne Tripplehorn learnt to stop worrying and love polygamy |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3652960/How-Jeanne-learnt-to-stop-worrying-and-love-polygamy.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 June 2018 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3652960/How-Jeanne-learnt-to-stop-worrying-and-love-polygamy.html |archive-date=11 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The role was offered to [[Marisa Tomei]], but she turned it down, because her grandfather was sick at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 November 2013 |title=Tomei regrets not doing 'Four Weddings...' |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-tomei-regrets-not-doing-four-weddings-1131439 |website=[[DNA India]]}}</ref> [[Sarah Jessica Parker]] was also reportedly considered. Andie MacDowell was in London doing publicity for ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'' when she read the script<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bland |first=Simon |date=19 November 2019 |title=How we made Four Weddings and a Funeral, with Andie MacDowell and Mike Newell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/19/how-we-made-four-weddings-and-a-funeral-andie-macdowell-mike-newell |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref> and was subsequently cast.<ref name="15 Facts"/> MacDowell took a 75% cut in her fee to appear, receiving $250,000 upfront, but due to the success of the film, she earned around $3 million.<ref name=bells>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=24 October 1994|page=6|title=Bells still chiming for the 'Four Weddings' crew|last=Dawtrey|first=Adam}}</ref>

Grant's participation hit another stumbling block when his agent requested a £5,000 rise over the £35,000 salary Grant was offered. The producers initially refused because of the extremely tight budget, but eventually agreed. The supporting cast members were paid £17,500 apiece.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Reunion |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b040h53l |website=BBC Radio 4 The Reunion |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 July 2023}}</ref>

===Production===
[[Duncan Kenworthy]] produced the film while on sabbatical from [[Jim Henson Productions]].<ref name=bells/> Pre-production for the movie was a long process because funding was erratic, falling through in mid-1992 and leading to much uncertainty.<ref name="20 Years On"/> Finally in early 1993, [[Working Title Films]] stepped in to close the gap. Nonetheless, another $1.2 million was cut just before production began in the summer of 1993, forcing the film to be made in just 36 days with a final budget of £2.7 million (approximately $4.4 million in 1994).<ref name="20 Years On"/> [[Channel Four Films]] contributed £800,000.<ref name=bells/> The budget was so tight that extras had to wear their own wedding clothes, while Rowan Atkinson appeared as a vicar at two of the weddings so production would not have to pay another actor.<ref name="15 Facts"/>

Future [[Home Secretary]] and [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[Amber Rudd]] was given the credit of "Aristocracy Coordinator" after she arranged for several aristocrats to make uncredited appearances as wedding extras, including [[Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire|Peregrine Cavendish]], who was at the time Marquess of Hartington, and the [[Simon Marquis, 3rd Earl of Woolton|Earl of Woolton]], who conveniently wore their own [[Morning dress|morning suits]].<ref name="15 Facts"/>

To make Grant look more nerdy, the producers styled him with shaggy hair, glasses and deliberately unflattering, ill-fitting clothes.<ref>{{cite video| title=The Wedding Planners: Making of Four Weddings and a Funeral| medium=dvd| publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment| year=2006}}</ref><ref name="youtube.com">{{cite video| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2YoUbAEFTI| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/c2YoUbAEFTI| archive-date=7 November 2021 | url-status=live| title=Hugh Grant Reviews His Most Iconic Movie Roles GQ| author=GQ| publisher=[[YouTube]]| date=29 June 2018| access-date=1 July 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Grant was encouraged by director Mike Newell to mess up and trip over his lines, written in "convoluted [[syntax]]" as Grant describes them, in order to give Charles a stammering, nervous quality.<ref name="youtube.com"/> Grant, who struggled with [[hay fever]] throughout filming, was unsure of Newell's direction and his own performance, which he thought was "atrocious." Regarding Newell, Grant commented that: "He seemed to be giving direction against what I thought were the natural beats of the comedy. He was making a film with texture, grounding it, playing the truths rather than the gags".<ref name="Anne Thompson"/>

====Filming locations====
The film was shot mainly in London and the [[Home Counties]], including: [[Hampstead]], [[Islington]] where the final moments take place on Highbury Terrace, [[Greenwich Hospital, London|Greenwich Hospital]], [[Betchworth]] in Surrey, [[Amersham]] in Buckinghamshire, the village of [[Sarratt]] in Hertfordshire (wedding number one), [[St Bartholomew-the-Great]] church in London (wedding number four), and [[St Clement's Church, West Thurrock|St Clement's Church]], [[West Thurrock]] in Essex (the funeral).<ref>{{cite web |last=Bloom |first=Phillipa |date=June 1994 |title=The Making of Four Weddings and a Funeral |url=https://www.empireonline.com/features/empire-classic-feature-four-weddings |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321181232/https://www.empireonline.com/features/empire-classic-feature-four-weddings |archive-date=21 March 2014 |access-date=5 June 2015 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref> Exterior shots of guests arriving for the funeral were filmed in Thurrock, Essex overlooking the River Thames with the backdrop of the [[Dartford Crossing|Dartford River Crossing]] and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge.

Stately homes in [[Bedfordshire]] ([[Luton Hoo]] for wedding two's reception) and [[Hampshire]] provided exteriors for weddings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Four Weddings and a Funeral |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/f/4wandf.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020612051508/http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/f/4wandf.html |archive-date=12 June 2002 |access-date=16 August 2011 |website=movie-locations.com}}</ref>

===Post-production===
According to Hugh Grant, the initial screening of a rough cut of ''Four Weddings'' went very badly. {{blockquote| "I thought we'd screwed it up. When we went to watch a rough cut, all of us, me, Richard Curtis, Mike Newell, the producers, all thought this was the worst film that's ever been perpetrated. We're gonna go and emigrate to Peru when it comes out so no one can actually find us. And then they had a, a few cuts later they took it to [[Santa Monica]] for a test screening and everyone loved it. And it was a great surprise."<ref name="SAG-AFTRA Foundation"/>}}

Throughout production, [[Gramercy Pictures]], the U.S. distributor for the film, sent frequent transatlantic faxes objecting to the explicit language and sexual content, fearing the final product would not be suitable for American distribution or television airings.<ref name="20 Years On"/> They particularly objected to the opening scene of the movie, in which Charles and Scarlett say the word "[[Fuck]]" over and over, after an initial screening of the movie in [[Salt Lake City]] led the conservative [[Mormon]] members of the city council to walk out.<ref name="15 Facts"/><ref name=":0"/> Accordingly, Mike Newell and the actors agreed to reshoot the scene with the British swear word "[[Bugger]]" to be used in the American version.<ref name="15 Facts"/> The executives also objected to the title, believing ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' would turn off male viewers from the film. In its place they suggested such titles as ''True Love and Near Misses'', ''Loitering in Sacred Places'', ''Skulking Around'' and ''Rolling in the Aisles'', none of which were accepted.<ref name="20 Years On"/>

===Music and soundtrack===
The [[original score]] was composed by British composer [[Richard Rodney Bennett]]. The movie also featured a soundtrack of popular songs, including a [[cover version]] of [[The Troggs]]' "[[Love Is All Around]]" performed by [[Wet Wet Wet]] that remained at number 1 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] for fifteen weeks and was then the ninth biggest selling single of all time in Britain. This song would later be adapted into "Christmas Is All Around" and sung by the character of Billy Mack in Richard Curtis' 2003 film ''[[Love Actually]]'', in which Grant also stars. The soundtrack album sold more than 750,000 units.<ref name=bells/>