Four award-winning performers have been tapped to star in an exciting new comedy from Neon, directed by Emmy winner Wendey Stanzler. Titled Old Pals, Deadline reports that Golden Globe and Emmy winners Henry Winkler (Barry) and Brian Cox (Succession), alongside the prolific Emma Roberts (We’re the Millers) and Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld), will lead the project. The film’s director, Stanzler, is known for her work in TV comedy and drama series, including Sex and the City, Parks and Recreation, Party Down, You’re the Worst, and For All Mankind.
Old Pals is based on a screenplay by Rick Cisario and follows droll opposites and recent widowers, Ira (Winkler) and Jimmy (Cox), who are forced to become friends by their conspiring daughters (Roberts & Wood). Unsurprisingly, the two are stubborn at first, which ultimately leads to a journey of unexpected friendship, proving that family has a way of bringing even the most unlikely people together.
Next week, Neon International will introduce the humorous movie at the European Film Market in Berlin, handling the foreign sales rights, while CAA Media Finance and Verve Ventures will represent the North American rights. Debbie Liebling (Jules) will produce for Inner Child Productions alongside Kim Bailey and Isabel Marden for Corporate Witchcraft (Clementine).
How Well Do You Know The Stars of ‘Old Pals’?

Popularly known for his role in Happy Days, Winkler starred as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the sitcom from its first episode in January 1974 until it ended in July 1984. More recently, he was seen in Barry as acting teacher Gene Cousineau, which earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award in 2018. Cox, on the other hand, still remains a worldwide icon for his portrayal of Logan Roy in HBO’s dark comedy Succession, which last aired in 2023. For this, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and earned three Emmy nominations.
As for the veteran actors’ onscreen daughters in Old Pals, Roberts’ involvement in multiple seasons of FX’s American Horror Story has contributed to her global recognition over the years. She also serves as an executive producer on the Hulu hit series Tell Me Lies under her Belletrist Productions banner, which she co-founded alongside Karah Preiss. Westworld icon Wood starred in the HBO series as Dolores Abernathy, for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and earned Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations.
No theatrical release date has been announced yet for Old Pals, so stay tuned to Collider for more upcoming details about the film. You can see stars like Henry Winkler on Barry, which is streaming now on Max.

Barry

Release Date

2018 – 2022

Network

HBO Max

Showrunner

Alec Berg

Directors

Alec Berg

Writers

Alec Berg