‘Father of the Bride’ Cast to Reunite on Netflix, Teaser Revealed

Netflix is hosting a reunion special for Father of the Bride almost 30 years after the original movie’s release. The streaming giant announced on Tuesday night that the special would air on Friday, giving fans just a few days to get their re-watch in. Netflix shared a teaser on Twitter, leaving a few questions about how the special would look.

“A very special reunion” for Father of the Bride will stream live on Netflix, YouTube and Facebook at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 25. It has been arranged to benefit World Central Kitchen — a charity for feeding people in need, which is doing a lot of work amid the coronavirus pandemic. So far, it is not clear which of the original cast and crew will take part in the special, but movie starred Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Martin Short and Kieran Culkin, among others.

The teaser hints that the special will take the form of a video call between the participants — whoever they turn out to be. It shows a screen recording of a computer desktop where Annie Banks (Williams-Paisley) is sharing her newly-digitized wedding photos with her father, George (Martin. Her younger brother, Matty (Culkin) is arranging a video chat for them all, and begging their dad to attend.

“Dad are you coming to the video call? And yes… I checked, it doesn’t cost anything so accept the calendar invite, okay?” the email reads.

On Thursday morning, Netflix’s Twitter released another teaser, this time embedded with older footage of the first two movies and a final shot of the beloved Banks family home with voiceovers from Martin and Keaton.

If the reunion is conducted via video call, it will join a growing genre of similar specials produced for the coronavirus pandemic specifically. Fans have now seen long-form reunions of the casts of TV shows like Community, Parks and Recreation, Full House, Friday Night Lights, Melrose Place, Taxi, Chuck and several others. Meanwhile, classic movie casts like The Goonies, Back to the Future, High School Musical and Contagion, among others.

Many of these reunions function more like convention panels than anything else, pleasing fans of Comic Con, podcasts or talk shows. However, others have been more ambitious, such as the upcoming West Wing reunion special announced this week. It will feature the cast of the series in a staged performance of a fan-favorite episode from Season 3, streaming on HBO Max.

Father of the Bride was first released in December of 1991, and it centers around the wedding of the eldest daughter in the Banks family. It is a remake of a classic Spencer Tracy film. At the time of this writing, Father of the Bride is not included with any streaming subscription, but it can be rented or purchased on digital stores like Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and YouTube. The Father of the Bride reunion special premieres on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET on Netflix, Facebook and YouTube.