In June 2014, Del Shores announced that he had completed the script for a sequel to Sordid Lives (2000) titled, A Very Sordid Wedding.[2] That November, Beard Collins Shores Productions launched an Indiegogo fundraising campaign to assemble the project and secure investor financing.[3] The film is set in 2015 Winters, Texas, which is 16 years after the first film, and deals with the impact of the advancement of same-sex marriage in the conservative Southern community.
Most of the cast from the first film and TV series returned. Original actors Beth Grant and Olivia Newton-John turned down offers to return for the sequel. While Grant's role of Sissy was recast to Dale Dickey, Newton-John's role of Bitsy Mae was written out of the script.[4]
The film had a world premiere in Palm Springs at the Camelot Theatres on March 10, 2017, where it grossed $40,000.[7][8] It was followed by a two week limited theater rollout by The Film Collaborative in 34 other markets.[9]
The film was released on video on demand, DVD and Blu-ray by Gravitas Ventures on October 17, 2017.[10] In its first week it sold 9,457 DVDs ($96,367) and 10,082 Blu-rays ($240,948). It sold an estimated total of $631,361 between both platforms.[11]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[12]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[13]
Frank ScheckofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote that fans of the original would the enjoy the same "raucous, gay-themed humor". He wrote "Very Sordid Wedding offers some undeniably entertaining moments, and its talented ensemble, clearly encouraged to pull out all the stops, delivers their comic shtick with admirable gusto".[1] Scott Tobias writing for Variety gave it a negative review, saying "A few of the gags land, most of them don't, but the overall rhythm is stilted and rudderless, flattened further by d.p. Paul Suderman's point-and-shoot camerawork".[14]
Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times gave a positive review, noting it was "as broad as the side of a barn but much more amusing[15] G. Allen Johnson writing for the San Francisco Chronicle praised Shores' writing and called the film "undeniably energetic". He noted that it "descends into obvious preachiness, and from this view, the unrelenting wackiness becomes overwhelming. Still, good times are had by all".[16]
