Chris Rock isn’t just returning to the“Grown Ups”franchise for the paycheck or the nostalgia. He’s doing it alongside his 22-year-old daughter, Zahra Rock, who grew up visiting the sets of the first two films and is now officially part of the cast. Rock told PEOPLE that watching his kids essentially grow up around those movies makes this one feel completely different, and he’s promising fans the sequel will, in his words, blow your mind.
The timing lines up perfectly with the story.“Grown Ups 3”follows the original friend group as their grown children get pulled into the plot, so the movie is aging up right along with its stars. Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade and Rob Schneider are all back, with Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Steve Buscemi returning as well. Zahra also appears in“Misty Green,”the new A24 film her dad directed, which Rock has said was partly about letting her see him lead a creative project from start to finish.
So yeah, the nepotism conversation is going to happen in the comments, because it always does. But underneath all that is a pretty simple story: a comedian who built a family comedy franchise is now sharing it with the kid who used to hang around behind the scenes. The whole thing comes full circle in the best way.
Are you planning to see“Grown Ups 3”when it hits theaters, or are you waiting for streaming?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.