Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner are in early talks to step into the circle of trust for a new Meet the Parents film

Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner could return to the Circle of Trust for a new Meet the Parents movie.

Meet the Parents, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro

When he’s not directing episodes of Severance or learning how to be a parent to estranged nephews in the David Gordon Green-directed holiday comedy Nutcrackers, Ben Stiller likes to map out his next move, which could take him back to the Circle of Trust for a new Meet the Parents movie. According to Deadline, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner are in early talks for a new film in the Meet the Parents franchise.

John Hamburg, who wrote all three Parents films, including Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, and Little Fockers, returns to write the screenplay. Sources say no director is attached, but the studio is on the hunt. Jane Rosenthal and De Niro produce through Tribeca Productions alongside Jay Roach. Roach directed the first two films in the franchise and helped produce all three in the trilogy via Delirious Media. Ben Stiller and John Lesher will produce courtesy of Red Hour Films.

Meet the Parents came to theaters in 2000 when awkward slapstick romance comedies were still a thing. Stiller plays a male nurse from Chicago named Greg Focker. He’s a chronic under-achiever who finds himself the target of Jack, his girlfriend Pam Byrnes’ (Teri Polo) former CIA agent father. Jack is determined to out Greg as unworthy of his daughter’s affection, but Greg’s not about to give up so easily. The two families come together through outrageous mishaps to form a dysfunctional unit.

Hamburg and Stiller have worked together on Stiller’s 2004 romantic comedy Along Came Polly, starring Jennifer Aniston, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, and Alec Baldwin. Hamburg was also the co-writer of Stiller’s cult comedy classic Zoolander, which lives on in the hearts and minds of people with taste. Who’s up for a gasoline fight? Amazing.

Does a new Meet the Parents movie sound like comedy gold? Does the gang still have what it takes to revive the awkward family comedy? Are Greg and Pam now grandparents after so much time has passed? I have many questions that will hopefully be answered when more details about the plot for another film in the Meet the Parents franchise emerge from the Circle of Trust.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

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