“The Dink” has found its home.
The sports comedy from director Josh Greenbaum, starring Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris and Ben Stiller, has been acquired by Apple Original Films. According to the official synopsis, Johnson stars as “a washed-up tennis pro who, desperate to save a struggling club and earn his father’s respect, is compelled to break a sacred vow and do the unthinkable: play pickleball.” A release date has not been revealed.
The supporting cast for “The Dink” includes Chloe Fineman, Aaron Chen, Patton Oswalt, Chris Parnell, Christine Taylor, Andy Roddick and John McEnroe.
“The Dink” is produced by Stiller and John Lesher for Red Hour Films and Rob Paris and Mike Witherill for Rivulet Entertainment. Johnson is also a producer. The film is written by Sean Clements and executive produced by Rick Steele, Clements, Greenbaum, Joe Hardesty, Jonathan McCoy and Daniel Crosser.
Stiller, of course, also collaborates with Apple for the original series “Severance,” which recently received 27 Emmy nominations. Johnson is also set to appear in the upcoming Apple series “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” alongside Tatiana Maslany.
Greenbaum is coming off of his critically acclaimed (and also Emmy-nominated) documentary “Will and Harper,” about the friendship between Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, and previously directed the side-splitting comedies “Strays” and “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.” He is currently in pre-production on “Spaceballs 2,” which is set to start shooting later this year. Josh Gad will produce and co-star in the sequel to the Mel Brooks classic. Apple Original Films’ 2025 slate includes the just-released Spike Lee joint “Highest 2 Lowest;” Joseph Kosinski’s “F1,” which recently became Brad Pitt’s highest grossing movie ever after it was released earlier this summer; and the upcoming Paul Greengrass/Matthew McConaughey based-on-a-true-story thriller “The Lost Bus,” which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before hitting the streaming service on Oct. 3.
