Universal has convinced Dustin Hoffman to return for some desperately needed last-minute scenes that will be shot to try and help the ailing “Little Fockers.”
The studio, who are keeping up the front that everything is fine with the picture pointing to healthy scores from test audiences, has scheduled shooting for early September for at least half a dozen new scenes, four of which will include Hoffman. Details on the scenes are scarce, but apparently Hoffman will be included in a pivotal scene at the end of the film with all the major characters. But Hoffman isn’t coming cheap. Universal is bending over and paying Hoffman what he would’ve earned on the film had he signed on in the first place, but that said, his character is still more or less the same (which prompted his departure from the franchise previously).
The film is apparently still under budget, but when all the columns are added up, the cost is rumored to be around the $100 million dollar mark with Universal insiders calling these last minute arrangements, “an investment in the future of the franchise.” But the production hasn’t been easy. Deadline reports that things got so bad that at one point Universal considered removing director Paul Weitz from the film and replacing him with writer John Hamburg, but reconsidered after the DGA mess it would have caused. So the studio decided to fix the film in post-production with Weitz, Hamburg, Ben Stiller, and producer Jay Roach sifting through the footage.
So, will Hoffman save the day? Well, he can’t make it any worse. “Little Fockers” opens on December 22nd. [Deadline]