Washington [US], June 23 (ANI): Hollywood actor and director Nia Vardalos has announced that the third sequel of the super-hit movie 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' has begun filming in Athens, Greece.

Taking to Instagram, Vardalos, who starred in the original 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' has declared that she will be directing the third instalment, reported Variety. However, the plot and cast details are kept under tight wraps.

"Thank you to Playtone, Gold Circle, HBO and Focus! And much love and gratitude to you all for your support as we waited to film. Greece baby. Greece!" captioned the 'Connie and Carla' star.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfEx7HLDmQ4/Helmed by Joel Zwick, the original 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' narrated the story of a woman of Greek-American origin, Toula Fotoula, played by Vardalos who falls for a non-Greek young man Ian Miller, played fantastically by John Corbett. The rom-com followed the story of Toula who married Ian, against her family's will and showed her hilarious attempts to make them accept her non-Greek husband.

The screenplay of the original 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' released in the year 2002 was written by Vardalos, reported Variety. She nabbed an Oscar nomination for the film's screenplay as well. 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3' would be Vardalos' next directorial outing after her 2009 romantic-comedy, 'I Hate Valentine's Day'.

The original movie was a mega-hit at that time, becoming the highest-grossing rom-com, and paving the way for its second sequel, 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'.

Actor Michael Constantine, who enacted the role of Toula's father Gus in the original film passed away the previous year and was unable to star in the third sequel, reported Variety. However, before his demise, Constantine's last wish was for the 'third film' to 'go on', and Vardalos made sure that she acted on it.

"He had told me he wouldn't be able to join us for the third film and his wish was that we go on. I wrote the screenplay to reflect Michael's decision and will always treasure his last messages to me, hoping we were filming soon." wrote Vardalos on social media last year. (ANI)