From director Jason Moore, known for Pitch Perfect and Sisters, comes a romantic comedy that’s unconventional, unpredictable and unparalleled. Starring Jennifer Lopez (The Wedding Planner) and Josh Duhamel (Love, Simon) in the lead roles as Darcy and Tom, respectively, Shotgun Wedding focuses on the main characters dealing with the gathering of their lovable yet opinionated families for a wedding ceremony. According to the official synopsis on Metacritic, “Suddenly everyone’s lives are in danger when the entire party is taken hostage. “’Til Death Do Us Part” takes on a whole new meaning in this adventure as Darcy and Tom must save their loved ones—if they don’t kill each other first.”
The film also boasts a talented supporting cast, including Sônia Braga as Renata, Jennifer Coolidge as Carol, Lenny Kravitz as Sean, Cheech Marin as Robert, and D’Arcy Carden as Harriet. Although it’s based in the Philippines, shooting for Shotgun Wedding actually took place in Boston and the Dominican Republic. According to Decider, “Specifically, the movie was filmed at ANI Private Resorts in Rio San Juan in the Dominican Republic.” Filming was originally scheduled to commence in the summer of 2019, but was delayed until Feb. 22, 2021. Jennifer Lopez later announced via Instagram that principal photography had wrapped on April 22, 2021.
In an interview for the Shotgun Wedding production notes (via Decider), Production designer N.C. Page Buckner said, “ANI provided the level of luxury we were looking for. It had the vibes of a high-end resort, with a bit of an Asian influence built into some of the design.”
Lenny Kravitz recalled around eight or nine hours a day per week in the ANI Private Resorts swimming pool: “We spent more than a week in the pool, eight or nine hours a day, which took a toll on my clothes and shoes. But we were in this infinity pool at the edge of the resort, looking out to the beautiful ocean, so there was nothing to complain about.”
Right now, Shotgun Wedding has a ‘rotten’ score of 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience seems to love it. Although critics weren’t pleased, the audience score sits at a rather satisfying 75 percent.
Although Shotgun Wedding was released in Singapore in December 2022, it was released on Jan. 27, 2023, by Amazon Studios via Prime Video.
