When you heard that Jennifer Lopez had a new movie, you just let the news wash over you without attention. We live in an age where a movie has to be truly special to do well in theaters, and truly special Lopez films are few and far between.
This goes doubly for this new film, which is entitled Shotgun Wedding. That's right: another Lopez wedding movie. Another piece of fatty gristle in a soup that already contains The Wedding Planner, Monster-in-Law and Marry Me. So, you filed the movie away in the back of your mind. At best, it would be the third movie he's seen on a long-haul flight.
At first, Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom's (Josh Duhamel) wedding appears to be on its way to being a dream ceremony, if a bit quirky, in the trailer for the upcoming film Shotgun Wedding. The dress is chosen, the seating arrangements are arranged, and all the guests are present, including the eccentric future in-laws and Darcy's ex, who makes a bold helicopter entrance during dinner.
Director: Jason Moore
Writer: Mark Hammer
Stars: Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Coolidge
But as she puts on her wedding dress and prepares to walk down the aisle, Darcy notices that "something doesn't feel quite right." Turns out he doesn't flinch: As the wedding attendees await the bride and groom at the beachside altar, they are suddenly ambushed and taken hostage by a group of masked gunmen.
Darcy and Tom must embark on an adventurous quest to save their wedding party from certain death, all while handcuffed to each other. The clip shows the pair zip-lining, throwing grenades, firing shotguns, and using a very scary cake knife to fend off pirates. They also get a little help from their friends and family along the way, including Coolidge's character, who we see screaming like crazy and firing a machine gun.
But she waits. Because, as anyone who's seen the trailer can attest, Shotgun Wedding might end up being the best Lopez movie ever made. In the trailer, Lopez plays a beautiful bride on a stunning tropical island, happily in love with Josh Duhamel despite all the extravagant interruptions from her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Jennifer Coolidge. Her relationship is strong enough to withstand the arrival of her flamboyant ex, played by Lenny Kravitz. Everything is beautiful and perfect. And then the last two minutes of the trailer happen.
In an amusing twist of fate, Duhamel—who notably joined the film after Armie Hammer's exit amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which Hammer has denied—experienced a bit of life imitating art while filming in Republic. Dominican.
In a May 2021 Tonight Show interview, Duhamel revealed that he had a terrifying encounter in the ocean during production. "The waves were breaking about 30 feet in the air," he recalled. "This rogue wave comes up while I'm shooting this and it literally swept me almost off the edge of this cliff." Thankfully, he escaped with only a few scratches, but if the movie trailer is anything to go by, Tom's character may not be able to say the same.