It’s almost time to meet the parents — again. Just last week, Universal dropped the double-whammy of a release date (November 25, 2026) casting Ariana Grande in the upcoming “Meet the Parents 4.” Then, during a 25th anniversary screening of the original film at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 7, stars Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro addressed their involvement … and spoiler, they’re both pumped and ready to go.
“What spurred the idea is that I’m the age that Bob was when we did the first movie,” Stiller said on a panel after the screening. “It felt like a mirror to the first film, where one of my kids is thinking about introducing his person to the family.”
“The script is really fun,” De Niro added. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The acting legend, who recently appeared in “Alto Knights,” said that he has been pushing for a fourth film for years.
“When we filmed the last one, I was sitting with Ben and [screenwriter] John Hamburg. I said, ‘Let’s start writing the next one now. And they were just humoring me. Now we are finally doing the next one,’” he said.
“Meet the Parents” also starred Teri Polo and Blythe Danner as Stiller and de Niro’s partners, respectively. It was followed in 2004 by “Meet the Fockers,” which cast Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as Stiller’s parents, and the gang got together again in 2010 for “Little Fockers.” Co-writer of the first three films Hamburg penned the fourth installment’s screenplay — though so far everyone has been tight-lipped on plot details.
While Polo and Danner have been confirmed for the sequel, there has been no word on whether Streisand and Hoffman will be involved. Polo was also in attendance at the anniversary screening and discussed how much of the film was a learning experience for her, making particular note of advice given to her by de Niro.
“He said ‘[Comedy and drama are] the same thing, it’s the honestly in which you say the line. You’re not trying to be funny. You say it and really mean it,’” Polo said.
