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Meet the Parents (film series)
American romantic comedy series
American romantic comedy series
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| name | Meet the Parents | |
| image | [[File:The Biggest Focker Collection Ever.jpg]] | |
| caption | DVD cover art for collected edition | |
| alt | A white door, with BYRNES FAMILY on the letterbox, and three DVDs coming out. | |
| director | Jay Roach (1–2) | |
| Paul Weitz (3) | ||
| John Hamburg (4) | ||
| producer | Robert De Niro | |
| Jane Rosenthal | ||
| Jay Roach | ||
| John Hamburg (3–4) | ||
| Nancy Tenenbaum (1) | ||
| Ben Stiller (4) | ||
| John Lesher (4) | ||
| starring | {{Plainlist | |
| music | Randy Newman (1–2) | |
| Stephen Trask (3) | ||
| cinematography | Peter James (1) | |
| John Schwartzman (2) | ||
| Remi Adefarasin (3) | ||
| studio | TriBeCa Productions | |
| Red Hour Productions (4) | ||
| distributor | Universal Pictures | |
| DreamWorks Pictures (1–2) | ||
| Paramount Pictures (3–4) | ||
| released | Meet the Parents: | |
| Meet the Fockers: | ||
| Little Fockers: | ||
| Focker In-Law: | ||
| runtime | 321 minutes | |
| country | United States | |
| language | English |
Paul Weitz (3) John Hamburg (4) Jane Rosenthal Jay Roach John Hamburg (3–4) Nancy Tenenbaum (1) Ben Stiller (4) John Lesher (4)
- Robert De Niro
- Ben Stiller
- Teri Polo
- Blythe Danner
- Owen Wilson
- Dustin Hoffman
- Barbra Streisand
- (More) Stephen Trask (3) John Schwartzman (2) Remi Adefarasin (3) Red Hour Productions (4) DreamWorks Pictures (1–2) Paramount Pictures (3–4) Meet the Fockers: Little Fockers: Focker In-Law: Meet the Parents is a film series following the character Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) as he interacts with his family and in-laws. The series is made up of three movies: Meet the Parents (2000), Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). A fourth film, titled Focker In-Law, is set to release in 2026. The series primarily stars Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. The three films earned over $1.15 billion at the box office.
1992 independent film
Main article: Meet the Parents (1992 film)
Before the remake in 2000, Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke cowrote the original independent film, Meet the Parents, in 1992. Glienna also directed the film, wrote two original songs, and starred as protagonist Greg: a Chicago advertising agent who travels with his fiancée Pam Burns to meet her parents, Irv and Kay, for a weekend but sets off a series of accidents and causes the family to fall apart. Despite this, Greg alone survives: after Pam's sister Fay hangs herself, having accused Greg of wanting to cheat on Pam with her and framed him for her suicide, Irv attempts to shoot him but accidentally kills Kay and Pam before dying of a heart attack.
Several years after the film's release, Universal Pictures purchased the rights to the independent film. After hiring screenwriter Jim Herzfeld to expand the script, a new version of Meet the Parents was filmed and released in October 2000.
Films
''Meet the Parents'' (2000)
Main article: Meet the Parents
''Meet the Fockers'' (2004)
Main article: Meet the Fockers
''Little Fockers'' (2010)
Main article: Little Fockers
''Focker In-Law'' (2026)
Main article: Focker In-Law
In December 2024, it was reported that Stiller, De Niro, Danner and Polo were in early talks to star in a new Meet the Parents film. On March 20, 2025, it was officially announced that a fourth Meet the Parents film was in development, with John Hamburg, who wrote each of the first three films, directing in addition to writing the film.
On May 30, 2025, it was announced that the film would be released on November 25, 2026, and that Ariana Grande would join the cast. Additionally, Stiller along with De Niro, Danner, Polo and Wilson are confirmed to be reprising their roles. In late July, Skyler Gisondo was in talks to join the film. Later that month, it was announced that the film had been titled Focker In-Law.
Principal photography began on August 18, 2025, in New York City and is expected to last until November 4.
| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet the Parents | Jay Roach | Jim Herzfeld, John Hamburg, Greg Glienna & Mary Ruth Clarke | Jay Roach, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro & Nancy Tenenbaum | |
| Meet the Fockers | Marc Hyman, Jim Herzfeld & John Hamburg | Jay Roach, Jane Rosenthal & Robert De Niro | ||
| Little Fockers | Paul Weitz | John Hamburg & Larry Stuckey | Jay Roach, John Hamburg, Jane Rosenthal & Robert De Niro | |
| Focker In-Law | John Hamburg | Jay Roach, Ben Stiller, John Lesher, John Hamburg, Jane Rosenthal & Robert De Niro |
Legacy
The success of Meet the Parents was initially responsible for a 2002 NBC reality television show titled Meet My Folks in which a young woman's love interest, vying for her family's approval, is interrogated by the woman's overprotective father with the help of a lie detector machine. In September 2002, NBC also aired a situation comedy titled In-Laws. During the development of the sitcom, NBC called it "a Meet the Parents project" which prompted an investigation by Universal into whether NBC was infringing on Universal's copyright. Universal did not pursue any action against NBC, but neither show lasted more than one season. NBC and Universal merged on a corporate level two years later in 2004.
On July 18, 2005, a regularly scheduled American Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico, had to be diverted back to Fort Lauderdale shortly after take-off due to a bomb threat. The pilot turned the airplane around approximately 40 minutes into the flight after a flight attendant found a crumpled napkin that read "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... meet the parents", a clear reference to the scene in which Ben Stiller's character repeatedly shouts the word "bomb" while being detained by airport security. The airplane was met by a bomb squad of the local sheriff's office as well as the FBI whose agents questioned the plane's 176 passengers about the note.
Reception
Critical reception
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ | title=CinemaScore | publisher=CinemaScore | access-date=April 15, 2022 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220413083139/https://www.cinemascore.com/ | archive-date=April 13, 2022 | url-status=live}} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet the Parents | 85% (148 reviews) | 73 (33 reviews) | |||||||
| Meet the Fockers | 38% (164 reviews) | 41 (34 reviews) | |||||||
| Little Fockers | 9% (148 reviews) | 27 (32 reviews) |
Box office performance
| Film | Release date | Budget | Box Office revenue | Rank | Reference | North America | International | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | Total | $235 million | $ | $ | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet the Parents | $55 million | $166,244,045 | $164,200,000 | $330,444,045 | #312 | #428 | |||||||||
| Meet the Fockers | $80 million | $279,261,160 | $243,396,776 | $522,657,936 | #106 | #204 | |||||||||
| Little Fockers | $100 million | $148,438,600 | $162,211,985 | $310,650,585 | #380 | #467 |
Recurring characters
| Character | Meet the Parents | Meet the Parents | Meet the Fockers | Little Fockers | Focker In-Law | 1992 | 2000 | 2004 | 2010 | 2026 | Gaylord Myron "Greg" Focker | Pamela "Pam" Martha Byrnes | Jack Tiberius Byrnes | Dina Byrnes | Deborah "Debbie" Byrnes | Father O'Boyle | Kevin Rawley | Flight Attendant | Dr. Robert "Bob" Banks | Denny Byrnes | Larry Banks | Linda Banks | Bernard "Bernie" Focker | Rosalind "Roz" Focker | Officer Vern LeFlore | Isabel Villalobos | Jorge Villalobos | Judge Ira Goldfarb | Jack Banks | Andi Garcia | Prudence Simmons | Randy Weir | Henry Focker | Samantha Focker | Nurse Louis | Junior | Olivia Jones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Glienna | Ben Stiller | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacqueline Cahill | Teri Polo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dick Galloway | Robert De Niro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blythe Danner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mary Ruth Clarke | Nicole DeHuff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Toomey | William Severs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owen Wilson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kali Rocha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thomas McCarthy | Thomas McCarthy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jon Abrahams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James Rebhorn | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phyllis George | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mentioned}} | Dustin Hoffman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barbra Streisand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tim Blake Nelson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alanna Ubach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ray Santiago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shelley Berman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spencer & Bradley Pickren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jessica Alba | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laura Dern | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harvey Keitel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colin Baiocchi | Skyler Gisondo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daisy Tahan | Beanie Feldstein | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kevin Hart | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yul Vazquez | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ariana Grande |
Note: A gray cell indicates character did not appear in that film.
References
References
- [https://www.stumpedmagazine.com/Articles/the-boys-who-met.html The Boys Who Met the Parents] {{webarchive. link. (July 16, 2011, ''Stumped''. Retrieved March 29, 2010.)
- Grobar, Matt. (December 10, 2024). "Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo & Blythe Danner In Early Talks To Star In New 'Meet The Parents' Film".
- Gajewski, Ryan. (March 20, 2025). "‘Meet the Parents 4’ Lands John Hamburg to Direct for Universal".
- Kroll, Justim. (March 20, 2025). "‘Meet The Parents 4’: John Hamburg Comes On As Director For Universal Sequel".
- Kroll, Justin. (May 30, 2025). "Ariana Grande Joins ‘Meet The Parents’ Sequel At Universal; Fall 2026 Release Date Set".
- Grobar, Matt. (2025-07-23). "‘Superman’s Skyler Gisondo Joins ‘Meet The Parents’ Sequel At Universal".
- Rubin, Rebecca. (2025-07-28). "‘Meet the Parents 4’ Officially Titled ‘Focker in-Law’".
- Dutta, Shubhabrata. (June 19, 2025). "Meet The Parents 4 Starts Filming in New York in August".
- Hammond, Pete. (August 18, 2025). "Ben Stiller On The Emmys And Where 'Severance' Goes In Season 3, 'Happy Gilmore 2' And Reuniting With De Niro For 'Focker In-Law' – Behind The Lens".
- Variety]]'', July 21, 2002. Accessed May 27, 2008.
- Fenwick, Alexandra. [http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2002/09/13/Focus/Meet-My.Folks.Brings.A.Fiances.Worst.Nightmare.To.Television-2248574.shtml Meet My Folks brings a fiance's worst nightmare to television] {{webarchive. link. (2008-12-10, ''[[The Johns Hopkins News-Letter]]'', September 13, 2002. Accessed October 10, 2008.)
- Lynette Rice and Dan Snierson. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906172315/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,333382,00.html On the Air], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', August 9, 2002. Accessed October 10, 2008.
- [[Susan Candiotti. Candiotti, Susan]]. [https://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/07/19/flight.note/index.html Suspicious note diverts flight], [[CNN]], July 19, 2005. Accessed August 14, 2009.
- Carey, Bridget. [http://www.airportbusiness.com/web/online/Airline-and-Airport-Security-News/Bomb-Threat-Diverts-American-Airlines-Flight-Back-to-Fla/5$2770 Bomb Threat Diverts American Airlines Flight Back to Fla] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-09-27, [[Associated Press]]. Accessed August 14, 2009.)
- "CinemaScore". [[CinemaScore]].
- "Meet The Parents". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
- "Meet The Parents Reviews". [[Metacritic]].
- "Meet The Fockers". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Meet The Fockers Reviews". Metacritic.
- "Little Fockers". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Little Fockers Reviews". Metacritic.
- "Meet The Parents". Box Office Mojo.
- "Meet The Fockers". Box Office Mojo.
- "Little Fockers". Box Office Mojo.
- "Meet The Parents series". Box Office Mojo.
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