Despite the seemingly Christmassy title, Nutcrackers does not appear to represent David Gordon Green aiming to make a new festive classic. What it does, however, represent is him luring Ben Stiller back to a lead role for the first time in several years for his new comedy drama.
Written by Leland Douglas, Nutcrackers follows the work-obsessed Mike (Stiller), who must reluctantly travel to rural Ohio to look after his four rambunctious nephews after their parents die in a car accident. What begins as a three-day trip to find foster care turns into weeks of farm-life mayhem — and the realization that he doesn’t need to find them a home, they’ve found one for him.
Green already has the film shooting in Ohio, which certainly means he's not rushing into making another Exorcist film after Believer (there remains a chance he'll hand the reins to someone else or is waiting to start cranking it out until Nutcrackers is complete).
Stiller, meanwhile, has been spending more time behind the camera than in front of it, working on the likes of miniseries Escape At Dannemora and Apple TV+ series Severance. He's producing the new Green effort in addition to starring, but there's no word on a release date yet.