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Movies often originate from IP like books, magazine articles or film franchises, but FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, which premiered Jan. 20, 1994 at Sundance, belongs on the most untraditional origins list.

Richard Curtis, who wrote and co-executive produced the hit British rom-com, realized when he began writing that his own life was the IP here as he’d been to about 65 such weddings over the past decade. Once, he recalled, a fellow guest had proposed marriage, but he’d told her no — and later regretted doing so. WEDDINGS’ on-and-off again romance between Charles (Hugh Grant) & Carrie (Andie MacDowell) was, indeed, sparked by Curtis’s own experience.

Directed by Mike Newell (HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE), WEDDINGS launched Grant as an A-List actor and established Curtis as a high profile screenwriter. They followed up with other hit rom-coms like NOTTING HILL, BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY & LOVE ACTUALLY.

NOTTING HILL director Roger Mitchell says Curtis & Grant’s great success as collaborators is because, “Richard writes Hugh better than anyone else” and Grant’s “one of the only actors who can speak Richard’s lines perfectly.”

Curtis modelled Charles after himself and originally thought Grant was too handsome for the role. He wanted Alan Rickman, but Rickman wouldn’t audition. Ultimately, Newell and producer Duncan Kenworthy persuaded  Curtis to go with Grant, whose career was in low gear when he got the screenplay — so low that he called his agent to say, “There must be a mistake. You’ve sent me a good script.”

Grant almost wasn’t hired when his agent tried boosting Grant’s fee by £5,000. With a tight budget of $4.4M, no one wanted to pay more, but happily they finally did.

Casting Carrie had its twists and turns. Jeanne Tripplehorn was cast, but left when her mother died shortly before the start of filming. Marisa Tomei passed because her grandfather was ill. Sarah Jessica Parker was considered, but not hired, although she famously did get to play another Carrie on TV years later.

Andie MacDowell was in London promoting GROUNDHOG DAY when she read the screenplay. She waived her fee or took a sizable pay cut — recollections vary after so many years — and took points in the film instead, which reportedly brought her $2-3M after WEDDINGS’ unexpected success. It became the top grossing British film ever, at the time, grossing $245.7M worldwide.

What didn’t make it into the movie was a scene explaining how all those characters knew one another. Charles, Matthew (John Hannah) & Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas) were all at university together where Gareth (Simon Callow) was a lecturer. As for Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman), she was just found under Charles’ kitchen table after a party and stayed on!