Earlier in the week, Deadline reported that the second sequel to Meet the Parents, which officialy wrapped a while ago, was heading back into the studio for re-shoots (or "pickups"). Nothing so very unusual in that: slight tweaks after test screenings are often par-for-the-course. But New York Magazine's Vulture blog is reporting that the extra work may be more drastic than previously thought, with the word on the street being that Universal are deep in talks with Dustin Hoffman, who's being asked to belatedly join the cast of **Little Fockers.
Hoffman played Ben Stiller's father Bernie Focker in Meet the Fockers, but wasn't initially part of the threequel. Now though, he's being schmoozed to come back as part of an effort to "funny up" a comedy that seems to be making its studio nervous.
Oddly, the film doesn't actually seem to have tested badly, with a studio exec revealing to Deadline that the last preview screening in June resulted in "great" scores of "54% excellent, 85% total favorable, 73% definitely recommend". But director Paul Weitz, writer/producer John Hamburg, producer (and director of the first two) Jay Roach, and Stiller, are reportedly twitchy after trying to "fix the film" in post-production. Word is that Weitz was even almost replaced at one point, until the studio relented.
Hoffman may not even be available, since he's currently committed to Michael Mann and David "Deadwood" Milch's new HBO drama Luck. If he did return in support of young Gaylord, would be talking about a couple of scenes slotted in, or a Payback-style total rejigging? And do Universal actually need to worry, given that Meet the Fockers took in half a billion dollars at the box office? We'll bring you more news as we get it, but in the meantime, reacquaint yourself with the teaser, check out the poster and see if you think it needs work...