The Fockers are three weeks out from their return to theaters, and Universal is letting the new generation do the talking. A featurette released Monday, titled “Basecamp Connections,” puts the three newest faces of Focker In-Law front and center as the fourth Meet the Parents film heads toward its November 25 opening.
Beanie Feldstein, Skyler Gisondo and Eduardo Franco take turns marveling at what they have joined. “The three of us that are new are stepping into such a legacy,” one of them says of a franchise that started in 2000. Feldstein and Franco both arrive from Booksmart, and Franco says his agent pitched the reunion plainly: “Get ready to hang with Beanie and Skyler again.” The one castmate missing from their chat gets a mention too. “Ari should really be here,” comes the verdict on Ariana Grande, before the group lands on the running joke that none of them made it into Wicked, flying monkey roles included.
In the film, Greg Focker is still hovering over his two grown children when his son Henry, played by Gisondo, brings home his girlfriend Olivia, played by Grande, for the 80th birthday of Greg’s father-in-law, Jack Byrnes. Henry plans to propose, which is where Greg’s trouble starts.
Because this time, the suspicion runs the other way. Olivia wins over the whole family, Jack included, and the footage released so far shows her passing Jack’s lie detector test to earn her place in his circle of trust. It may help that Olivia is a former FBI hostage negotiator, not someone easily rattled. Greg alone is certain she is hiding something, and his attempts to prove it unravel the whole birthday weekend.
Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller lead a returning cast that also brings back Teri Polo as Pam, Owen Wilson as Kevin and Blythe Danner as Dina. Feldstein plays Greg’s daughter Samantha, with Franco as her boyfriend Eduardo. John Hamburg, who co-wrote all three previous films, directs this one, the first new entry since Little Fockers in 2010.
Focker In-Law opens in theaters November 25, in the heart of the Thanksgiving frame.