Red Hour Films and Rivulet Films have rounded out the cast for their pickleball comedy, The Dink, with seven additions: Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live), Patton Oswalt (Young Adult), Aaron Chen (Fisk), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), Chris Parnell (Rick and Morty), Christine Taylor (Dodgeball) and seven-time Grand Slam tennis champion John McEnroe (Never Have I Ever).
As previously announced, Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, Ben Stiller, and Andy Roddick will also star, with Josh Greenbaum (upcoming Spaceballs sequel) directing from a script by Sean Clements (Workaholics). Production kicked off in Los Angeles today.
The Dink follows a washed-up tennis pro who, in trying to save a club in crisis and win his father’s respect, is forced to break a solemn vow and do the one thing he swore he’d never do: play pickleball.
John Lesher and Stiller are producing through their Red Hour Films banner, alongside Johnson and Rivulet’s Rob Paris and Mike Witherill. Rivulet will also be fully financing this production, with the company’s senior strategic advisor Rick Steele exec producing alongside Clements and Greenbaum. Renowned tennis coach Brad Gilbert and wife Kim are serving as technical consultants.
The project reunites Stiller and Rivulet following their work on the David Gordon Green-helmed comedy Nutcrackers, starring Stiller, which will release on Hulu and Disney+ on November 29 after world premiering at TIFF.
Fineman is represented by CAA, Nicole Garcia Management, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols; Oswalt by UTA, Independent Artists Media, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Chen by UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment; Kove by Advanced Management and Feig Finkel LLP; Parnell by Buchwald and Rise Management; Taylor by UTA and Strand Entertainment; and McEnroe by IMG.
