The Hollywood Reporter‘s Risky Biz Blog is reporting that Little Fockers, the third installment of the Universal comedy franchise, is moving forward quickly at the studio as John Hamburg has been brought on to write the screenplay after Larry Stuckey wrote an earlier draft.
Jay Roach, who directed the first two films and had been loosely attached to direct this one, will not helm the film. He is instead concentrating on Dinner for Schmucks for DreamWorks and Parkes/Bowles and only will produce “Fockers.”
Producers instead are out to a handful of top comedy directors (including Paul Weitz, David Wain, and Peyton Reed) and hope to close a deal imminently for shooting to start as early as summer or fall.
Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Owen Wilson are in negotiations to star in Little Fockers, which is expected to revolve around the children of Stiller and Teri Polo, who plays his wife.