My Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 American romantic comedy directed by P. J. Hogan from a screenplay by Ronald Bass who also produced. The film stars Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, and Rupert Everett.

My Best Friend's Wedding received positive reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a global box-office hit.^[1] The soundtrack song "I Say a Little Prayer" was covered by singer Diana King and featured heavily in the film, making it a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit. The soundtrack featured a number of Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs.

My Best Friend's Wedding was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (James Newton Howard), in addition to 3 Golden Globe Award nominations – Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical (Roberts) and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Everett). Post release, it has often been cited as one of the best romantic comedy films of the 1990s and of all time.^[2][3]

Three weeks before her 28th birthday, New York City food critic Julianne "Jules" Potter receives a call from her lifelong friend Michael O'Neal, a Chicago sportswriter. Years earlier, the two agreed that if they were both unmarried by age 28, they would marry each other. Michael tells her that in four days, he will marry the beautiful Kimmy Wallace, a college student eight years his junior whose father owns the Chicago White Sox. Realizing that she was in love with him, Jules resolves to sabotage his wedding. Arriving in Chicago, she reunites with Michael and meets Kimmy, who asks her to be the maid of honor. Jules schemes to break up the couple, but her attempt to humiliate Kimmy at a karaoke bar backfires. She manipulates Kimmy into asking her father to offer Michael a job, which Jules knows will anger Michael, but this fails as well.

Frustrated, Jules begs her friend George Downes for help, and he flies to Chicago. On George's advice, Jules prepares to tell Michael how much she loves him, but instead tells him that she is engaged to George, hoping to make Michael jealous. George, who is gay, plays along but embarrasses Jules at lunch with the wedding party, singing "I Say a Little Prayer" as the whole restaurant joins in. George flies home, and Jules tells Michael that her "relationship" with George is over. Michael admits to feeling jealous and gives her the chance to confess her own feelings, but she lets the moment pass. They share a dance as Michael sings their song, "The Way You Look Tonight".

The day before the wedding, at Kimmy's father's office, Jules uses his email account to forge a message from him to Michael's boss, asking that Michael be fired to allow Kimmy's father to hire him at Kimmy's insistence. She saves the message rather than send it, but later realizes that Kimmy's father has unknowingly sent the email. Jules lies to enlist Michael's help, but they find the office locked. Returning to Jules' hotel, Michael receives a message from his boss notifying him of the email. Furious, he calls Kimmy, calling off the wedding.

The next morning, Jules discovers that neither Michael nor Kimmy have told anyone else that the wedding is off. She tries to manipulate the couple into breaking up for good, but Michael and Kimmy decide to get married after all. Jules finally confesses her love to Michael and passionately kisses him. Kimmy witnesses this and drives away distraught, pursued by Michael, who in turn is pursued by Jules in a caterer's truck. Jules calls George while driving and explains the situation, who assures her that Michael loves Kimmy and Jules has now a brief opportunity to ensure the couple are reconciled before the scheduled time of the wedding. Finding Michael at Chicago Union Station, Jules confesses to everything. He forgives her and tells her that here at the station is where he proposed to Kimmy and she accepted, and they split up to look for Kimmy.

Jules finds Kimmy in the bathroom of Comiskey Park. Amid a crowd of onlookers, Kimmy confronts Jules for interfering with Michael. Jules apologizes, assuring Kimmy that Michael truly loves her, and they reconcile. The wedding proceeds, and at the reception, Jules gives a heartfelt speech as Kimmy's maid of honor. Jules allows the newlyweds to temporarily have "The Way You Look Tonight" as their song until they find their own song. Jules and Michael share their goodbyes, both finally moving on. On the phone with George, Jules is surprised to see him at the reception, and they dance together.

• Julia Roberts as Julianne Potter, a 27-year-old food critic who realizes she's in love with her best friend Michael and tries to win him back after he decides to marry someone else
• Dermot Mulroney as Michael O'Neal, Julianne's best friend and a sportswriter who is engaged to Kimmy Wallace
• Cameron Diaz as Kimberly "Kimmy" Wallace, Michael's bubbly and lovable fiancée who comes from an affluent family
• Rupert Everett as George Downes, Julianne's gay friend and editor who pretends to be engaged to Julianne to make Michael jealous
• Philip Bosco as Walter Wallace, husband of Isabelle, father of Kimmy, and future father-in-law of Michael; he is a rich businessman who owns the Chicago White Sox baseball team
• M. Emmet Walsh as Joe O'Neal, father of Michael and Scotty O'Neal and future father-in-law of Kimmy; he suggested that Julianne be Michael's best man, but had to go with Scotty instead
• Rachel Griffiths as Samantha Newhouse, twin sister of Mandy and one of Kimmy's bridesmaids
• Carrie Preston as Amanda Newhouse, twin sister of Samantha and one of Kimmy's bridesmaids
• Susan Sullivan as Isabelle Wallace, wife of Walter, mother of Kimmy, and future mother-in-law of Michael
• Charlie Trotter as himself^[4]

In addition, Christopher Masterson plays Michael's younger brother Scotty, while Paul Giamatti briefly appears as a bellman who encounters Julianne in a hotel hallway.

The soundtrack was released on June 17, 1997, and contains covers of familiar songs. It was praised by AllMusic for working "better than it should, since most of the vocalists... concentrate on the songs".^[19]

Chart positions

Two official remakes with the same title have been released.

• A Chinese version was released in China on August 5, 2016.^[34]
• A Mexican remake was presented in Mexico on February 14, 2019.^[35][36]

In addition, the 2002 Bollywood film Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai ("It's My Friend's Wedding") was partially inspired by the film.

A stage musical adaptation of the film featuring songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and a book by screenplay writer Ronald Bass and Jonathan Harvey was announced to open in September 2021 (originally due to open September 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic) on a UK and Ireland tour, and was due to be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and star Alexandra Burke as Julianne Potter.^[37] However on June 30, 2021, it was announced that the production was cancelled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the producers revealing they hope to revisit the show at a later date.^[38]