CinemaCon brought us a ton of updates, and one of the news was the premiere of the new trailer for the latest entry in the Meet the Parents series, titled Focker In-Law. According to Variety, a fan asked the film’s star, Ben Stiller, on social media if they needed to see the original trilogy to understand the plot of Focker In-Law and Stiller replied,
No! But I stand by the first two.”
This response prompted another fan to ask, “So what went wrong with Little Fockers? You worked on it.” Stiller wouldn’t give a lengthy response, but there was hurt and disappointment in his tone when he replied, “We always try. Fully.”
For Focker In-Law, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson and Blythe Danner are on board to reprise their characters. John Hamburg, co-writer of the Meet the Parents trilogy, returns to write this new installment, and he also sits in the director’s chair this time around. Wicked star Ariana Grande was announced to be joining the fray in the role of a “ball-busting” woman engaged to Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo) Focker’s son. Superman‘s Skyler Gisondo has joined the film to play the son of the Fockers.
People had asked Stiller about the movie and the comedy actor teased Grande’s role as the new driving force. He stated, “I can’t really talk too much, I guess, at this point about the movie.” Stiller later pays Grande a compliment by stating how she is “so great with comedy.” Stiller continues to say, “But the character she’s playing is— she’s going to be really, really funny and kind of the whole engine of the new movie. So it’s exciting.”
As for why it’s time to add another installment in the Meet the Parents series, Stiller said, “I think what spurred the idea was that at this point in time. I’m the age that Bob was when we did the first movie. Teri [Polo] is the same age [Ariana] was when we did it, and there was this sort of sort mirror to the first film in terms of my kids are grown. And my kid, one of my kids, is thinking about introducing his person to the family. I think life informs everything that’s happened in the last, you know, 25 years, and it’s been a while since we did the last one. I think what like 15 years ago? So it’s kind of like great to look at it as a sort of like a new thing. But of course, there’s all these great memories and I feel like our connections are still there. When we get back together, it’s just like, it’s kind of like, all baked in there.” Despite the timing playing out perfectly, De Niro said that he was trying to get a fourth Meet the Parents going while Little Fockers was filming.
You can meet the new film on November 25, 2026.