It started as a joke; a low-budget, quirky movie about three guys who have the night of their lives, and then have the time of their lives sorting out the mess they’ve made. Now, it’s a multi-million dollar franchise, and this weekend, it enters its third and final movie, The Hangover Part III.

Ed HelmsBradley Cooper
Ed Helms [L] and Bradley Cooper [R] get up to some pretty weird stuff in The Hangover films

“We just stumbled on that one thing and thought it would be an interesting thing to explore as far as what that meant and what it's about. So we didn't do it like that, but I do know the movies pretty well,” says Director Todd Phillips on how the Hangover idea was born.

Click for the Hangover Part III Trailer

“To me, the key to this movie was that we wanted to tell Alan's story... it really felt like Alan's story was the loose end that needed to be tied up,” he added in his interview with Comingsoon.com. While the first Hangover film acquired somewhat of a cult status, with people flocking to the cinema off the back of positive reviews, the second film suffered a bit of a hangover (sorry). It only managed 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, suffering from the oh-so-common second film syndrome.

Zach GalifinakisTodd Phillips

Zach Galifianakis [L] has become a fans' favorite, while Swift [R] directs

Hangover III hits U.S cinemas this Thursday, 23rd May, and premiered yesterday, May 20th. It’ll arrive in the U.K not long after, hitting the Island on May 24th (a Friday night). You can find out if managed to score better than it’s feeble predecessor right here with our review and box office roundups.