‘Nutcrackers’: Ben Stiller to Lead David Gordon Green Directorial!!

After a lengthy hiatus, Ben Stiller is coming back to the big screen. The comedy star will topline Nutcrackers, a new film from David Gordon Green. Deadline reports that Stiller has signed on as the lead in the new comedy, which is currently in production in Ohio.

He will play workaholic Mike, who has to travel to a rural Ohio farm to look after his four rowdy nephews after their parents are killed in a traffic accident. While he initially intends only to stay for three days, long enough to get them into foster care, he ends up enduring weeks of tomfoolery on the farm – and in the process, comes to realize that he and his nephews are all the family they need. It will be the first starring role for Stiller since 2017, when he starred in The Meyerowitz Stories and Brad’s Status. Nutcrackers will be the first collaboration between Stiller and Green.Green is coming off his successful trilogy of Halloween movies and this year’s less-successful The Exorcist: Believer; a sequel to the latter, The Exorcist: Deceiver, is expected in 2025.

What Has Ben Stiller Been Up To?

Despite his break from being a leading man, Stiller has been far from idle. He’s been active as a producer and a director, working behind-the-scenes on the prison-break miniseries Escape at Dannemora, the CW mystery drama In the Dark, and most recently the acclaimed Apple TV sci-fi series Severance. He also took on producing roles on a number of films, including Dinner in America, Friendsgiving, and Queenpins. He has filmed a number of small cameos, appearing in Michael Winterbottom‘s Greed, Adam Sandler‘s Hubie Halloween, Doug Liman‘s Locked Down, and Billy Eichner‘s Bros. He is also slated to star in the upcoming dystopian comedy The Semplica Girl Diaries alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Sally Hawkins. Stiller‘s father, comedy legend Jerry Stiller, passed away during his leading-role hiatus, as well, dying of natural causes at age 92.

In addition to starring in Nutcrackers, Stiller will also produce the film via his Red Hour imprint. Rivulet’s Rob Paris and Mike Witherill, Red Hour‘s John Lesher, and Rough House’s Nate Meyer will also produce. The script will be written by Leland Douglas, who also wrote 2009’s Call of the Wild adaptation.