‘The Dink’: First Images Tease the Ben Stiller Produced Sports Comedy About Pickleball!! Check It Out!!

Apple TV is about to take the court for a game of pickleball with Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen. During the streamer’s press day, the first image of the new sports comedy The Dink was unveiled, casting the New Girl favorite as a washed-up tennis prodigy who gets caught up in the craze taking over his father’s country club. Initially opposed to pickleball’s rise, he soon finds himself falling in love with the game thanks to his enchanting new partner, Candace, played by Steenburgen, who can be seen celebrating their success with him on the court. Through the activity, he’ll seek redemption for his past athletic failures in this new underdog story coming to the platform on July 24.

Directed by Josh Greenbaum of Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar fame, The Dink centers on Dusty Boyd (Johnson), who’s now stuck teaching children tennis at his father Chuck’s (Ed Harris) country club after years of looking like a promising tennis star. Dusty is desperate for his dad’s approval and, as such, stands against pickleball’s rise due to Chuck’s personal vendetta. Upon reaggravating an old injury, however, he reluctantly takes up the game as part of his rehab and meets Candace, who shows him the joy of it all. His newfound love has him caught between two worlds, with a chance to make up for his athletic failures and take down his own childhood nemesis, International Tennis Hall of Famer Andy Roddick. For Dusty, pickleball spurs a riotous battle for legacy, identity, the love of his dad, and the future of his club.

While Johnson and Steenburgen are the dynamic duo powering The Dink, the cast is packed with star power. In addition to Harris and Roddick, they’ll be joined by Patton Oswalt, Chloe Fineman, Chris Parnell, Aaron Chen, and Ben Stiller. Stiller is also attached as a producer in a creative reunion with Apple TV after his work on Severance. His addition is fitting, given his involvement with not one but two comedic underdog sports classics in Happy Gilmore and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. He and John Lesher are producing for Red Hour Films alongside Rob Paris and Mike Witherill for Rivulet Entertainment and the film’s star, Johnson. Workaholics writer Sean Clements penned the script.

‘The Dink’ Is Part of a Big Upcoming Year for Jake Johnson

Film "DINK" trafi na platformę Apple TV 24 lipca.

Wypalony tenisista desperacko usiłuje ratować borykający się z problemami lokalny klub i zyskać szacunek ojca. Jest zmuszony złamać obietnicę i zrobić coś nie do pomyślenia: zaczyna grać w pickleball. pic.twitter.com/iTKYg2LHdD

— Kino Alert (@KinoAlertPL) February 3, 2026

Johnson counts The Dink among a couple of high-profile projects he’ll be appearing in throughout 2026. He’s set to appear at SXSW in March with The Sun Never Sets, a new drama from director Joe Swanberg that he helped to produce, also starring Dakota Johnson. Towards the end of the year, on October 23, his voice will also be heard in the long-gestating new LAIKA stop-motion film, Wildwood. With Steenburgen by his side, who’s coming off the acclaimed second season of A Man on the Inside with her husband, Ted Danson, his new sports comedy is shaping up as one to watch this summer among a host of new titles for Apple‘s streamer.