Ben Stiller Admits He Made One Movie Sequel He Can’t ‘Stand By’

Ben Stiller just got incredibly candid about one of his most popular franchises, Meet the Parents, and revealed which of the films just didn’t work for him.

The actor shared his true feelings about the series in a couple of posts on X on Thursday, April 16, after a new poster and trailer dropped online for the upcoming sequel, Focker-In-Law. The movie will feature the returns of Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, and Teri Polo, with Skyler Gisondo joining the cast as Greg and Pam’s son Henry.

Ariana Grande will also star in the film as Henry’s fiancée, while Beanie Feldstein and Eduardo Franco also appear.

No Love for ‘Little Fockers’

After the Focker-In-Law teaser dropped, a fan took to X and asked, “Yall I did not watch the first 3 movies (and I don’t want to watch it either) but I want to watch the 4th one. Will I lose major plot?”

Stiller then jumped into the replies to add, “No! But I stand by the first two,” referring to 2000’s Meet the Parents and its 2004 sequel, Meet the Fockers. The third film in the franchise, Little Fockers, was released in 2010.

Another fan then asked Stiller, “So what went wrong with Little Fockers? You worked on it.”

“We always try. Fully,” he responded, not getting more specific with his reasons for not loving the third installment.

Little Fockers was critically panned when it was released and sits with the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the series. It also pulled in the least at the box office, despite having the largest budget.

It was also nominated for three Razzie Awards, including Worst Screenplay and Worst Supporting Actress for both Barbra Streisand and Jessica Alba. Alba ended up "winning" the award.

First Focker-In-Law Footage

The first trailer for Focker-In-Law debuted at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, a convention where movie studios promote their upcoming releases to theater exhibitors. While on stage, Stiller joked that the filmmakers took a “fully intentional 15-year break between movies three and four.” 

The movie is written and directed by John Hamburg, who co-wrote the previous movies.

The newly-released teaser shows De Niro’s Jack Byrnes giving Grande a lie detector test as she shares her honest opinion of the Focker family. While she appears to get a warm welcome into the “Circle of Trust” from Jack, Stiller’s Greg clearly has a harder time accepting her as his son’s wife-to-be.

“I’m a little worried about Henry, he’s so innocent, and she’s trained to manipulate people,” he says, after she reveals herself as a former FBI hostage negotiator. Later, Greg calls her an “emotional puppeteer.”

Stiller excitedly shared the trailer to X, exclaiming, “Here we go again. Again. Again. Again!”—before responding to a fan who wasn’t nearly as enthused.

“Isn't that the damn truth......no one ..and I mean NO ONE was asking for a fourth serving of this....” wrote one follower.

Stiller's response? “You’re free to miss it!”

The movie hits theaters Thanksgiving 2026.