The comedy sequel hits theaters on Nov. 25.

Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller bicker at CinemaCon while presenting Focker In-Law trailer: ‘Very disrespectful’

The comedy sequel hits theaters on Nov. 25.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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April 15, 2026 9:10 p.m. ET

Robert De Niro and Ariana Grande in 'Focker In-Law'. Credit:

Universal Pictures/Youtube

- Ben Stiller called himself "the new sort of De Niro" of the *Meet the Parents* series at CinemaCon.

- De Niro took the stage to call that comment "very disrespectful."

- The duo introduced the first trailer for *Focker In-Law*, which co-stars Ariana Grande.

Robert De Niro doesn't want anyone comparing him to Ben Stiller.

The *Deer Hunter *actor and the *Tropic Thunder* star appeared on stage together at CinemaCon during Universal's presentation on Wednesday to present the first trailer for the fourth *Meet the Parents* movie, *Focker In-Law*.

The film follows Greg Focker (Stiller) as he meets Ariana Grande's character, Olivia, who is dating his son Henry (Skyler Gisondo), effectively placing Stiller in the grumpy parent position that De Niro's Jack Byrnes occupied in the original movie.

For that reason, Stiller attempted to argue that he's "the new sort of De Niro of the franchise."

De Niro then joined him on stage to push back against that claim.

"Don't say that. It's very disrespectful," he said.

De Niro then noted that he'd already been in *Goodfellas *and *Raging Bull* by the time he got to *Meet the Parents*. "What would you say is your *Raging Bull*?" he asked.

"I dunno, *Madagascar*?" Stiller responded.

De Niro asked if that was "the one with the Minions." When Stiller clarified that *Madagascar *contains no Minions, De Niro shot back, "I prefer the Minions."

After delivering a line hyping up *Wicked*'s box office gross and Oscar nominations, De Niro clarified, "I didn't write this," in reference to his segment on stage with Stiller.

Later, he said, "If anything, Ari's the new De Niro — I didn't write that either — *Wicked* gave me *Deer Hunter* vibes."

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The trailer reveals that Grande's character worked as an FBI hostage negotiator. She says that she specialized in "strategic emotional puppetry" before declaring, "That's how I'm gonna free Henry from you, Greg."

The comment prompts Greg to choke, and Olivia gives him the Heimlich maneuver, which leads to Greg spitting a mouthful of food into Jack's mouth.

The trailer ends with Greg declaring that he's "a real boy" who will break free of Olivia's "evil Geppetto," only to be attacked by a dog.

Stiller previously told ** about his experience working with Grande.

"It was great to have her energy coming into this franchise that has been around a long time, and we hadn't done for a very long time," he said. "She's incredibly professional, and watching her on *SNL*, she knows comedy, and she was just a joy to work with. I had a blast working with her, and I think what she brought to the movie is just a very, very new sensibility that also felt very much like it worked within the tone of the movie."

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The *Night at the Museum* star also teased Olivia and Jack's on-screen relationship.

"Watching him and her together — I can't really give away too much, but the connection between them in the film is pretty fun," Stiller said. "And it plays into the dynamic of Greg Focker always kind of being stuck on the outside."

*Focker In-Law* will release on Nov. 25, 2026.

- Comedy Movies

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Source: “EW Comedy”