Deadline reports that Meet the Parents 4 is moving forward as John Hamburg has been tapped to serve as director of the sequel. He’s no stranger to the franchise, as he has co-written the previous three installments. He’s penning the script for the new sequel as well.
Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo are all expected to return, but plot details are being kept under wraps. The last movie (Little Fockers) was released fifteen years ago, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Stiller’s kids will be the ones bringing their significant others home to meet the parents.
Joy Roach helmed the first two movies, while Paul Weitz took over for Little Fockers. Hamburg made his directorial debut on Safe Men in 1998 and went on to write and direct Along Came Polly, I Love You, Man, Why Him?, and Me Time. Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro will produce through Tribeca Productions, Jay Roach through Delirious Media, Ben Stiller and John Lesher through Red Hour Films, and John Hamburg through Particular Pictures.
The original film was released in 2000 (I feel old) and starred Stiller as Chicago male nurse and chronic under-achiever Greg Focker, who meets his charming teacher girlfriend Pam Byrnes’ parents, Jack and Dina, before proposing, but the suspicious Jack is an overprotective former CIA agent – every date’s worst nightmare. The film was a big success and was soon followed by Meet the Fockers, which introduced Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Greg’s free-spirited parents. The gang all returned for Little Fockers in 2010, but that film was met with scathing reviews and brought the franchise to an end… until now, at least.
Enough time has passed that there could be a little more milk in those nipples. What do you think of Meet the Parents coming back? Is there potential there, or will this be another long-belated comedy sequel that fails to hit the mark?
