It's official everyone: Dustin Hoffman will be in Little Fockers. To clarify for those who think this is stating the obvious, he previously wasn't in it at all. But now Deadline have confirmed that Hoffman has returned for reshoots on the comedy.

Little Fockers, the third in the Meet the Parents series, finished shooting a while back, albeit without Bernie Focker - he couldn't agree a deal to appear in the film. But Universal have agreed to splash some of their spare cash (Fockers finished under budget) on wooing Dustin back for additional "pivotal" scenes.

Hoffman joins the same cast as before, namely Barbra Streisand, Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, for several scenes, along with the rest of the cast (including Owen Wilson and new characters Harvey Keitel and Jessica Alba) for a large final scene.

Test screening results are reported by Deadline's insider as being "54% excellent, 85% total favorable, 73% definitely recommend", which are actually quite strong. But the studio apparently want to "make it better; it's an investment for the future of the franchise".

Little Fockers is directed by Paul Weitz and hits UK cinemas on Friday 22nd December. You can see the trailer in our videos section over here.

Director: Paul Weitz
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Harvey Keitel, Barbra Streisand
Certificate: TBC
Release Date: Friday 22nd December

The test of wills between Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) escalates to new heights of comedy in the third installment of the blockbuster series. It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get "in" with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back.

When Greg and Pam’s entire clan — including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson) — descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch… or will the circle of trust be broken for good?