“Meet the Parents ”to expand the circle of trust with a fourth film, starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller

The woes of Greg Focker aren't over just yet.

Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner are in early talks to return for a fourth Meet the Parents movie, nearly 15 years after they last joined forces for 2010's Little Fockers.

Though a director is not yet attached, the film will be penned by franchise scribe John Hamburg. In addition to writing the prior three films, Hamburg helmed Little Fockers and has also penned Zoolander, Along Came Polly, Why Him and Me Time.

Plot details for the fourth film are being kept under wraps, but it will likely include a stressful situation for Stiller's Greg Focker. The original 2000 comedy saw Stiller play the unlucky nurse, who embarks on a nightmarish visit to, well, meet the parents of his girlfriend, Pam, (Polo), before proposing. He instead endures a series of unfortunate events at the home of James (De Niro) and Dina Byrnes (Danner), as he attempts to earn a place in his would-be father-in-law's circle of trust. All the while James, a retired CIA agent with an overprotective streak and a strong dislike for Greg, doesn't make it easy.

Related: Ben Stiller reveals why he stopped taking lead roles for 7 years before new movie Nutcrackers: 'I'm so happy'

The 2004 sequel, Meet the Fockers, explored yet more family chaos as the Byrnes came face-to-face with Greg's parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. Finally, the 2010 follow-up, Little Fockers, picked up 10 years into Greg's marriage to Pam, with him once again attempting to prove his worth to his uptight father-in-law while raising two sons.

The franchise has also been known to draw in other stars, including Owen Wilson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, and Kevin Hart.

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Stiller recently paid a visit to Hot Ones, where he discussed the fight to get Meet The Fockers accepted by the MPAA (now the MPA), so the sequel could maintain the same family-friendly rating as the original. All they had to do was prove that real-life Fockers exist.

"They thought it was too close to 'f---er,'" he explained. "They have to clear names sometimes.… I don't understand how it works legally, honestly, but something like that did happen."

And it's a good thing it did. Thanks to its broad audience, the comedy franchise remains a success: Meet the Parents grossed over $330 million at the global box office and ended its run as the seventh highest grossing film of 2000. Its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers also drew in a crowd, culminating in a total franchise gross of over $1.13 billion at the global box office.

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