I suppose this news was only a matter of time in Hollywood’s current era of making everything old new again, but according to Us Weekly, a fourth Meet the Parents movie is currently in development. A quick refresher: The first movie featured protagonist Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) meeting his girlfriend Pam’s (Teri Polo) parents (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner). The second one introduced Greg’s parents, and the third one fast-forwarded into the future for some hijinks surrounding Pam and Greg’s five-year-old twins’ birthday party. There’s no news yet about a potential plot for a fourth movie, but Stiller, De Niro, Polo, and Danner are reportedly all in talks to return.

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

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.

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.

[From Us Weekly]

I worked at a movie theater when Meet the Fockers came out and would pop in to watch the funnier scenes on my breaks. I really do like both that movie and Meet the Parents. That said, I truly don’t think we need another addition to this franchise. I haven’t watched any of them in 20 years, but I’m willing to bet that none of them totally hold up nowadays. I sometimes wonder if Hollywood keeps going back to these beloved movie franchises because it’s easier to do that rather than navigate what newer, younger audiences want to see. I keep going back to the movies and TV shows that I’ve watched via Netflix and other streaming services that are geared more towards younger generations, like The Sex Lives of College Girls or the delightful holiday series Dash & Lily. Why can’t Hollywood come up with new ideas like that to appeal to Millennials and Gen Xers who are in the Meet the Fokers demographic? Let’s move on to something original.

photos are YouTube screenshots courtesy MovieClips and credit: Andrew Shawaf, PacificCoastNews.com/Avalon