Ben Stiller Returning To Acting After 6-Year Hiatus With Comedy From Blumhouse's Exorcist Sequel Director
Ben Stiller reportedly lines up his first lead role in six years in a new comedy from Blumhouse's Exorcist sequel director David Gordon Green.
Summary
- Ben Stiller returns to the leading role in a comedy film after a six-year hiatus, signing on for Nutcrackers with director David Gordon Green.
- David Gordon Green, known for directing horror films, makes a return to comedy after his recent efforts with Halloween and The Exorcist: Believer.
- After the disappointing performance of The Exorcist: Believer, Green may not direct the planned sequel, leaving his future in horror uncertain while he focuses on comedy with Nutcrackers.
Ben Stiller lines up his first lead role in six years, signing on for the comedy Nutcrackers from Blumhouse’s Exorcist sequel director. One of the highest-grossing comedy stars of recent decades thanks to movies like Meet the Parents, Zoolander and Night at the Museum, Stiller has largely been on hiatus since 2017, when he starred in the movies Brad’s Status and The Meyerowitz Stories. Since those twin leads, the star has only made a handful of small appearances, in unheralded titles like Greed, Locked Down and Bros, as well as the Adam Sandler vehicle Hubie Halloween.
But Stiller is now reportedly ready to dive back into comedy in a big way, signing on to work with Exorcist sequel director David Gordon Green in the upcoming film Nutcrackers (via Deadline). The film is currently in production in Ohio. Stiller is onboard as a producer as well as starring. Plot details are under wraps for the time-being.
Green Returns to Comedy After Directing Halloween and Exorcist Movies For Blumhouse
Nutcrackers not only marks Stiller’s return to the leading slot of a movie for the first time in over half-a-decade, it also marks Green’s return to directing comedy after a run of horror films. Once known for funny films like Pineapple Express, Your Highness and The Sitter, Green took a hard left turn in 2018, tackling writing and directing duties on the decidedly non-comedic Halloween reboot. After that movie’s massive success, Green also helmed the sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends. He then kept up his horror run by directing this year’s The Exorcist: Believer.
The Exorcist: Believer grossed $136 million on a budget of $30 million.
What Green’s return to comedy means for his horror future remains to be seen, but after Exorcist: Believer received bad reviews and underperformed financially, the director floated the possibility that he might not return for the planned sequel The Exorcist: Deceiver, telling THR recently:
My intention is just to start making things, and as those plans come together, if I find myself in that [The Exorcist: Deceiver] director’s chair, I’d be thrilled. But right now, I’m navigating it from a story perspective and looking at my realities of life as I pivot.
Given the disappointment of Exorcist: Believer, it’s perhaps not a surprise to see Green pivoting back to comedy, at least for now. The director could, of course, still return for the planned Exorcist sequel, which reportedly has a finished script. For those who admire Green’s pre-horror comedic work, the thought of him working with the ever-hilarious Stiller on Nutcrackers is an exciting development.
Source: Deadline
