Ben Stiller is due to produce and star in the pickleball comedy The Dink.
The 58-year-old actor will appear alongside New Girl star Jake Johnson, Step Brothers actress Mary Steenburgen, The Truman Show actor Ed Harris and former tennis champion Andy Roddick in the upcoming flick, which follows a washed-up tennis pro (Jake) as he finally relents and plays pickleball in an effort to save a club in crisis and earn his father’s respect.
As well as starring in the comedy, Ben’s production company Red Hour Films will be collaborating with Rivulet Films on the movie.
Ben was last seen in the comedy-drama Nutcrackers where he played a workaholic who leaves the city and travels to rural Ohio to care for his four orphaned nephews
The movie marked Stiller’s first film role in seven years, and he previously revealed the strength of the script and the quality of his young co-stars – brothers Homer, Ulysses, Atlas and Arlo Janson had won him over.
Speaking at a screening of the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, Ben explained: “I made a choice a few years ago I was only going to do something if it really resonated with me. I wanted to meet these boys and be part of this.”
Director David Gordon Green added: “There was a part of me who thought there was a time to do something different. I challenged myself to make a movie without cynicism and viciousness.”
Ben — who stars opposite Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson and Tim Heidecker in the picture — emphasised that he wanted the flick to be seen in cinemas rather than going straight to a streaming platform.
He explained: “It’s important for us to experience a movie like this in a theatre. We need more movies like this on screen. It’s nostalgic for us, but it’s what people enjoy.”
ALSO READ: Ben Stiller and Adam Scott on how Apple TV+’s sci-fi Severance is closer to reality than one thinks
