Why did this sequel not clean up at the box office like the first one?

The first one was never intended to be a huge block buster hit. It was a small budget film that took off.

Three reasons the sequel potentially didn't sweep.

1. The first one never called for a sequel. There wasn't any part at the end that left you wondering.

2. So much time has passed. while this can be a great things for some movies - for others it leaves an audience confused and thinking 'why now?'

3. The plot felt redundant. Perhaps if the film looked like something fresh and interesting -but the trailer came off as 'another wedding' which seems reductive.

I actually thought this was funnier than the first one but it bombed for a few reasons. box offices are low this year in general. I just dont think theres anything out there getting people excited to go to the movies. Its the year of sequels.

And as others have pointed out, too many years had passed.

Personally I didn't love it. I didn't hate it, but it felt very campy at times. Whereas the original had campy moments surrounded by very endearing ones. I didn't think the sequel met the same sweet, lovable tone.

I also didn't like how much pressure the family put on Paris to date a Greek. I thought that was something the first movie settled- marrying someone for love. Like they hated Ian at first but learned to love him despite his different cultural background. But in this movie, it was almost like they started from scratch and no lessons involving acceptance were taken over from the original. I mean, I fully expected them to still be a proud Greek family, as they should, but thought there would be openness there

-Who is it?
-It's Grandpa. And it sounds like he's gotten into the horseradish again.

Umm I believe it did "clean up" at the box office. The movie made it's budget back in the first weekend and to date has grossed more than 3x the budget at the box office.

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The first movie was charming, fresh, light. The acting was on point. I could tell the actors were having fun. It flowed wonderfully.

The second movie was different. The comedy is there (and darn funny), but a big hiccup for me was Nia. Nia's acting wasn't on par with the rest of the actors. She is a gifted writer (Nia, please write more comedy for us!), but for some reason in this comedy her acting was very, very forced, and everything looked over or under exaggerated.

And like others have mentioned, the plot was too similar to the first movie. I would love to see Nia take another crack at this series with a completely different plot. And a different name. Just call it a Big Fat Greek [insert plot here]. :-)

I watched the first half hour of the original this morning and it dawned on me. What made this movie such a delight, and what a sequel could never achieve, was Tulah's initial courage to change her life. And watching her transformation. When the movie first opened, she was so unhappy. And her family had no great hope for her. But then she turned her life around. That was, at least for me, a very big part of the story. I was rooting for her every step of the way. I think everybody was. There was just no way for the sequel to capture that again. It was too little, too late.

It did good still, 18 million budget and made 88 million, but the other was 5 million and made over 300 million. I think the big reason was the trailer, it made it look bad, although it was far from that. That and the 1st one had more buzz behind it, because it was a surprise hit. Almost no independent film grosses 100 million, let alone over 300 million. And today only action films make money like that in the box office. Even the best comedy films today never really reach 200 million.