Andy Roddick to Star with Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen in Pickleball Comedy ‘The Dink’ from Producer Ben Stiller

Former tennis champion Andy Roddick will star alongside Jake Johnson, Mary Steenburgen and Ed Harris in the upcoming pickleball comedy The Dink.

Josh Greenbaum, who directed “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” and the upcoming documentary “Will & Harper,” is directing the film. Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films and Rivulet Films will produce. Sean Clements (“Workaholics,” “Kevin Can F**k Himself”) wrote the screenplay for “The Dink,” which is set to begin shooting in November in Los Angeles.

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Johnson will play a burnt-out tennis player who tries to save a struggling club and earn his father’s respect. But in the process, he is forced to break his solemn oath and do the one thing he swore he would never do: play pickleball. It’s unclear who else he’ll play in “The Dink,” but Stiller will appear in a supporting role.

Rivulet will also fully finance the production, with the company’s senior strategic advisor Rick Steele serving as executive producer alongside Sean Clements and Greenbaum. Rivulet’s Rob Paris and Mike Witherill will produce with Stiller and John Lesher of Red Hour Films. Stiller and Rivulet most recently collaborated on director David Gordon Green’s family comedy “The Nutcracker,” which opened the Toronto International Film Festival and sold to Hulu for eight figures.

Johnson will also produce. He is best known for playing Nick Miller on the sitcom “New Girl” and for voicing Peter Parker in Sony’s animated feature “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” He most recently wrote, starred and directed “Self Reliance,” a comedy thriller about a man who is offered $1 million to play a game in which he must outwit hunters who are trying to kill him. He believes he has found the perfect loophole, since he can only be attacked when he’s alone. The only problem is that none of his friends or family members want to keep him company because they don’t believe the game is real.

Stiller, whose comedy bona fides include “Zoolander” and “Tropic Thunder,” is gearing up to release the second season of “Severance,” an Apple TV+ show on which he serves as director and executive producer. Steenburgen is an Oscar-winning actress for “Melvin & Howard,” “Step Brothers,” “Elf” and “Book Club.” Harris is best known for “The Hours,” “The Truman Show,” “Apollo 13” and “Pollack.” He most recently starred in “Top Gun: Maverick” and the A24 crime thriller “Love Lies Bleeding” with Kristen Stewart.

Johnson is repped by UTA, Birch Public Relations and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein. Stiller by WME, ID and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Steenburgen by UTA, Entertainment 360, Wolf-Kasteler Public Relations and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman. Harris by CAA, Jill Fritzo PR and Ziffren Brittenham. Roddick by WME. Greenbaum by UTA, Entertainment 360 and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Feldman, Rogal, Shikora & Clark. Clements by UTA and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.

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