Synopsis

During the Christmas shopping season in New York City, Jonathan and Sara meet by chance and spend a magical evening together, despite both being involved with other people. Believing fate should decide their future, they separate without exchanging contact information. Years later, both engaged to others, they independently return to New York and search for the stranger they cannot forget.

Factoids & Trivia

• Filming took place from July 24 through October 11, 2000, in New York City, Toronto, Ontario, and other locations.

• The real Serendipity 3 restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side appears in the film. The dessert shared by Jonathan and Sara is the restaurant's famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.

• The table used in the restaurant scene became known as the "Star Table" after the film's release.

• John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale filmed only a few days together, echoing the limited time their characters initially spend with each other.

• Cusack's apology after accidentally kicking snow toward an extra was unscripted. The moment was kept in the finished film.

• The production was affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks. Images of the World Trade Center towers were digitally removed from New York skyline shots before release.

• The film premiered at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival before opening in the United States on October 5, 2001.

• With an estimated budget of $28 million, the film earned approximately $77.5 million worldwide.