Image copyright MGM Image caption The short film will follow the same characters as the original, which was released in 1994

The cast of Four Weddings and a Funeral are to reunite for the first time in 25 years for next year's Red Nose Day.

Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell and Kristin Scott Thomas will star in a new short film, penned by Richard Curtis.

One Red Nose Day and a Wedding follows the same characters as the 1994 film, more than two decades later.

"We're all definitely older - I suspect no wiser," said Curtis. "It's been really enjoyable working out what's happened to all the characters."

He added: "Now they get back together for the fifth wedding, where, as usual, not everything will go as planned."

The one-off special will premiere exclusively during the charity fundraising programme on BBC One on 15 March, and will also feature as part of NBC's programming for the American version of the telethon in May.

The cast of the short film will also feature John Hannah, Rowan Atkinson, James Fleet and David Haig, with director Mike Newell also returning.

Sadly absent will be Charlotte Coleman, who played the flatmate of Hugh Grant's character in the film. She died in 2001 at the age of 33.

When it was released in the 1990s, not only did the original Four Weddings and a Funeral catapult its star Hugh Grant towards international acclaim, it also created a new mode of British romantic comedy.

Curtis would go on to write Notting Hill and Love Actually, the latter of which received its own mini-sequel during Red Nose Day 2017. He also worked on the screenplay of Bridget Jones's Diary, adapted from Helen Fielding's novel of the same name.

"There's a massive amount of nostalgia for Four Weddings, which is understandable as it's a real British favourite," film critic Pamela Hutchinson told the BBC. "And if that can be turned into support for a good cause, it's an excellent idea.

"I am sure we all wondered what happened to the happy couple after that unforgettable kiss in the rain. After 25 years, the possibilities are numerous, I suppose.

"Will Charles and Carrie be the ones to get married? If Hugh Grant isn't late for the wedding and swearing heroically I will be sorely disappointed."

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