Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro Will Return for New Meet The Parents Film

The Meet the Parents franchise is back and expanding, with even more of the Fockers family taking over the big screen.

Us Weekly confirmed on Tuesday, December 10, that Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo and Blythe Danner are in early talks for another movie in development at Universal Pictures.

While the plot is currently under wraps, John Hamburg is set to return to write the screenplay. (Hamburg co-wrote all three previous films: Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers.)

A director has yet to be announced, but Jane Rosenthal and De Niro will return to produce the film through Tribeca Productions and alongside Jay Roach, who directed the first two films and produced the previous three via Delirious Media.

Stiller and John Lesher are also set to produce through Red Hour Films. Executive Vice President of Production Development Matt Reilly and Director of Production Development Jacqueline Garell are slated to oversee the project for the studio. (Deadline was the first to report the news.)

In the OG movie, Stiller starred as Greg Focker, a nurse who traveled with his girlfriend, Pam (Polo), to her sister’s wedding. While there, Greg meets Pam’s parents Jack (De Niro) and Dina (Danner) for the first time and with the hopes of getting their stamp of approval before proposing to Pam. Much to Greg’s dismay, his relationship with Jack gets off to a very rocky start.

Throughout the franchise, viewers meet Pam’s ex-boyfriend Kevin (Owen Wilson) and Greg’s parents, dad Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and mom Roz (Barbra Streisand). (It is unclear whether they will return for the new installment of the Meet the Parents franchise.)

The critically acclaimed Meet the Parents grossed over $330 million in the global box office, becoming the seventh highest grossing film globally in 2000. Sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers had similar success, culminating in a total franchise gross of over $1.13 billion globally.

Years after the initial movie’s release, Stiller reflected on the hurdles the franchise had to go through to ensure the film did not receive an R rating.

“Is it true that the Motion Picture Association would not allow for the name Focker unless the filmmakers could prove that there was actually someone with that surname?” host Sean Evans asked Stiller during a December 5 appearance on Hot Ones. Stiller replied, “Oh, I think that is true, yes.”

Stiller explained that his last name in the film was too similar to the expletive. “Because it was PG-13, I think. And they thought it was too close to f—er,” he said.

After Evans asked if they needed to provide a photocopy of someone’s driver’s license with the last name, Stiller replied, “I don’t understand how it works legally, honestly, but something like that did happen.”