Some franchises don’t need to do much to get a crowd on their side. All Focker-In-Law, the fan-favorite comedic franchise’s first movie in 16 years, really had to do was remind people that the Byrnes-Focker family was about to start making each other miserable again, and CinemaCon audiences were always going to be there for it. The series has been away for a while, but its mix of family anxiety, generational chaos, and painfully awkward comedy has never really gone out of style. That’s what makes Focker-In-Law such an easy movie to be curious about.
It’s a familiar brand, but one with plenty of room to create fresh disaster by simply throwing a new family dynamic into the mix. At CinemaCon, Universal finally gave attendees their first proper look at the long-awaited sequel, and the first trailer has now been released online. Universal finally gave exhibitors and the intnernet their first real taste of the movie at CinemaCon, and it sounds like the studio knows exactly what people want from this return.
The cast is a big part of why the sequel already feels like a genuine event for fans of the original films. Focker-In-Law stars Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Ariana Grande, Skyler Gisondo, and Beanie Feldstein, and it’s going to be Grande with the attention on her, following her Oscar-nominated turn as Galinda the Good Witch in Universal’s Wicked films. Grande was a revelation in that role, and clearly Universal sees more acting roles in her future.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
What Can We Expect From ‘Focker-in-Law’?
Speaking at a 25th anniversary screening of the movie and a special post-screening Q&A, moderated by NBC’s Joe Fryer, the cast reflected on how the story — and their own lives — have evolved, with Stiller explaining he had evolved into the position that De Niro was in 25 years earlier.
“I think what spurred the idea was that at this point in time, I’m the age that Bob was when we did the first movie. Teri is the same age she was when we did the first movie, and it felt like this sort of mirrors the first film in terms of the fact that my kids are grown and one of my kids is thinking about introducing his person to the family.”
Focker-in-Law is set for release on November 25, 2026.
