Fried Green Tomatoes(1991)

Name: Fried Green Tomatoes
Director: Jon Avnet
Genre: Drama
Released: Dec 27, 1991
Cast: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Cicely Tyson

Universal Pictures

PG-13
2h 10m
- Drama

Release Date: Dec 27, 1991

Evelyn Couch is a dissatisfied housewife in 1980s Birmingham, Alabama, who strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly woman, Ninny Threadgoode, at a nursing home. Over a series of visits, Ninny tells Evelyn about two women — Idgie and Ruth — who ran the Whistle Stop Cafe together in 1920s Alabama and weathered everything the world threw at them. A film that moves between two time periods, two friendships, and one story about what women are capable of when they decide to stop accepting what they are given.

Releases

Original Release | Dec 27, 1991

35th Anniversary (Fathom Entertainment) | May 10, 2026

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Box Office Results

Updated as of Mar 10, 2026 11:28 AM ET

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$82,418,501
Total International
$37,000,000
Total Worldwide:
$119,418,501

Total US & Canada:
$72,240,759
Total Worldwide:
$72,240,759

Current Showtimes

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Director & Top Cast

Jon Avnet
Director

Kathy Bates
Evelyn Couch

Jessica Tandy
Ninny Threadgoode

Mary Stuart Masterson
Idgie Threadgoode

Mary-Louise Parker
Ruth Jamison

Cicely Tyson
Sipsey

Chris O’Donnell

Buddy Threadgoode

Stan Shaw

Big George

Gailard Sartain

Ed Couch

Timothy Scott

Smokey Lonesome

Gary Basaraba

Grady Kilgore

Lois Smith

Mama Threadgoode

Jo Harvey Allen

Women's Awareness Teacher

Macon McCalman

Prosecutor Percy

Richard Riehle

Reverend Scroggins

Raynor Scheine

Sheriff Curtis Smoote

Grace Zabriskie

Eva Bates

Reid Binion

Young Julian Threadgoode

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby SR

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Fried Green Tomatoes is a 1991 American comedy-drama directed by Jon Avnet and written by Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski, adapted from Flagg's 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. The film stars Kathy Bates as Evelyn Couch and Jessica Tandy as Ninny Threadgoode in the present-day framing story, and Mary Stuart Masterson as Idgie Threadgoode and Mary-Louise Parker as Ruth Jamison in the 1920s flashback narrative. The supporting cast includes Cicely Tyson, Chris O'Donnell, Stan Shaw, and Gary Basaraba. Cinematography is by Geoffrey Simpson, and the score is by Thomas Newman. Principal photography took place across multiple locations in Georgia, including Juliette, Senoia, Newnan, and Conyers. The film was given a limited US release on December 27, 1991, by Universal Pictures, going wide on January 24, 1992. It grossed $119.4 million worldwide against an $11 million production budget. The film received two Academy Award nominations, for Best Supporting Actress (Tandy) and Best Adapted Screenplay, and two BAFTA nominations. It also won a GLAAD Award for Best Feature Film with Lesbian Content. Core themes include female friendship, resilience, identity, marriage, race, and the gap between the lives women are expected to live and the ones they choose. The film is widely regarded as a landmark of American women's cinema of the early 1990s.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the relationship between Idgie and Ruth depicted as romantic in the film?

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Who wrote the screenplay, and is it faithful to the novel?

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Fun Facts

The scene where Idgie reaches into a beehive was originally meant for a stunt double, but the double quit at the last minute. Masterson volunteered to do it herself, and the footage of her covered in a swarm of hundreds of thousands of live honeybees — with no CGI — made it into the final cut.