The Pacifier

The Pacifier would be a 2026 American buddy comedy-drama film directed by Travis Knight and directed by Christina Hudson. Knight would also produce the film alongside Steven Spielberg, Jim Whitaker, and Kristin Burr. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Whitaker Entertainment, and Burr! Productions, the film would be a remake of the 2005 film of the same name written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant. The film would star Vin Diesel, reprising his role from the original film, alongside Hailee Stenfield, Ben Schwartz, Abby Ryder Fortson, Max Charles, Bazlo Leclair, John Cena, Maya Rudolph, Justin Theroux, and Jim Carrey. John Williams would compose the film's score.

Vin Diesel originally announced a sequel to The Pacifier in 2015, througth the film was ultimately unproduced. In early 2024, a remake of The Pacifier was announced, with Diesel set to reprise his role as Shane Wolfe, and Spielberg, Whitaker, and Burr set to produce the film. Knight and Hudson would be announced as the film's director and writer, respectively, in late 2024, while the rest of the cast would join in early 2025. Filming would begin in June 2025 and conclude in October 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Pacifier would be released on February 14, 2026, and would become a critical and financial success. Critics would praise the film as "a vast improvement" over its predecesor, with particular praise for its writing, emotional weight, performances (particularly Diesel, Steinfield, and Carrey's), directing, and score. The film would also earn 745 million dolars at the worldwide box office over its budget of 80 million dollars, and outgrossing the original film.

Synopsis
After the creator of a top-secret ilitar project is killed by a terrorist group, Navy SEAL lieuteniant Shane Wolfe finds himself facing his biggest mission ever: Taking care of the professor's children while trying to find the secret project, a program known as "GHOST". However, Wolfe's militaristic lifestyle dosen't exactly combine with the children's lives particularly now given their father's death and troules at school. However, as Wolfe searches for the GHOST, he ends up becoming the figure the childrens need, and discovers the life he has missing. Now, he must chose between his job and a life.

Cast

 * Vin Diesel as Shane Wolfe, a SEAL lieuteniant at the Navy who is forced to watch over a group of children while searching for their late father's project. Diesel would reprise his role from the original film. Diesel would say that the film "leans more into Shane's more emotional side" than the original film, and "how he discovers that life is more than work".
 * Hailee Stenfeild as Zoe Plummer, the oldest sibling of the Plummer children, who finds herself coping with her father's death. Writer Christina Hudson would research on how teenagers and the oldest siblings on a family deal with a parent figure's death.
 * Ben Schwartz as Seth Plummer, the second-oldest sibling of the Plummer children, who struggles to live up to his late father's expectations while wanting to fullfill his own dreams.
 * Abby Ryder Fortson as Lulu Plummer, the 10-year-old middle child of the Plummer children, who struggles with both her father's death and leading her girl scout group.
 * Max Charles as Peter Plummer, the 3-year old second yougest child of the Plummer children, who became mischeavous following his fathe'rs death. Director Travis Knight woulld say that the character Lilo, from Lilo and Stich (2002), would be "a big influence" on the character.
 * Bazlo Leclair as Tyler Plummer, the 7-months old youngest child of the Plummer children.
 * John Cena as Captain Bill Fawcett, Wolfe's commanding officer, who is secretly working with a terrorist group to obtain the GHOST programm.
 * Maya Rudolph as Julie Plummer, the mother of the Plummer children, who travels to Zürich following her husband's death in order to obtain her husband's safety deposity box.
 * Justin Theroux as Dave Roberts, the leader of a terrorist cell who is trying to obtain the GHOST program.
 * Jim Carrey as Dwayne Murney, the vice-principal of the Plummer children's school, who is deeply strict with the school's rules and has an bullying and over-the-top personality. Carrey would improvis heavily his scenes during production.

Differences between the original film and the remake

 * In the original film, Captain Bill Fawcett worked with North Korean spies, while, in the remake, he would instead by working with a terrorist cell.
 * The original film started with Shane Wolfe in the middle of a mission, while the remake woud start with Wolfe's daily routine, which would be completly militaristic.


 * In the original film, Professor Howard Plummer was killed off-screen, while, in the remake, he would be killed on-screen. Additionally, he would give a last look to his family's photo while dying in the remake.
 * The remake would further explore how the death of Howard affected his children.
 * Instead of fighting the bullies, Lulu would smart them.
 * While in the original film, Wolfe and Dwayne Murney fought at the school's gym, in the remake Wolfe would punch him in front of the students, leaving Murney terrified.
 * Instead of simply saying that he's reconsidering his career at the Navy, Wolfe would actually leave his commander to think it.
 * The film's climax would take place enterily on the Plummer residence.
 * The original film ended with a scene taking place in Seth's play, while the remake would end with Wolfe's new routine after leaving the Navy.

Music
John Williams, a long-time collaborator of producer Steven Spielberg's, would compose and conduct the film's score. Williams would compose a theme for Shane Wolfe "that starts as being purerly Saving Private Ryan-like, only to thaw more as time goes by", while his theme for the Plummer children would "be very dynamic, depending on the children, yet very tragic", througth he would settle on a single theme for the children "to show how they, in a way, deal with the same pain". He would also compose "a militaristic theme" for Captain Bill Fawcett "that latter becomes more evil and bombastic". Williams would compose a theme for Dwayne Murney that "is 100% funy and 100% over-the-top".

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 90%, with an average rating of 8.9/10, based on 198 reviews. The website's critical consensus would read, "Vastly improving its source material's poorly-executed story, The Pacifier delivers on the potential the original film's plot wasted by crafting a heartfelt, emotional, and heartwarming story that will surerly bring a few tears to even the ost mature audiences". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 80 out of 100 based on 50 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Trivia

 * Director Travis Knight would replace the North Korean spies from the original film with a terrorist cell in order to prevent any potentil offensive stereotype.
 * Knight and writer Christina Hudson would develop the remake's plot by "looking at the elements of the original film with most potential, and building the story upon them".
 * Knight, Hudson, Hailee Steinfield, Justin Theroux, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Rubell previously worked together in Paramout Picture's Bumblebee (2018).
 * This would be the first film directed by Travis Knight to not to be scored by Dario Marianelli.