Movies

John Cena is Zac Efron’s fake friend in new Ricky Stanicky trailer

"Dumb & Dumber" director Peter Farrelly returns to comedy in the new film for Prime Video.

Published on January 26, 2024 10:00AM EST

“All we did was tell one lie.”

“Hundreds and hundreds of times, over the course of many years.”

That's the conflict at the heart of Ricky Stanicky, as explained by JT (Andrew Santino) and Dean (Zac Efron) in the movie’s new trailer. The comedy, which hits Prime Video on March 7, follows three best friends who invent a fake fourth pal, “Ricky Stanicky,” as a scapegoat for their mistakes and an excuse for avoiding responsibility. The ruse seems to work flawlessly for 25 years — until JT’s baby is born six weeks early while the trio is “visiting Ricky in the hospital” (actually living it up in Atlantic City).

“I wanna know where the hell you guys were tonight,” says a woman who appears to be JT’s mother or mother-in-law. “We called every hospital and there was no record of any Ricky Stanicky.”

The jig is up — so the gang decides to hire Atlantic City entertainer “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena) to play Ricky Stanicky and cover their tracks. Rod is an “X-rated rock and roll impersonator,” per Wes (Jermaine Fowler).

Rod’s lack of social grace immediately upends the group’s lives — he “compliments” Dean’s boss Ted (William H. Macy) on his “seedlings” (hair plugs), mortifying Efron’s character in the process. But the interaction yields an unexpected result: “I was really taken with your friend Stanicky,” Ted says. “He’s got brass balls on him, that guy. That’s why I hired him.”

As Rod’s unpredictable personality causes more chaos, the friends try to get rid of him — but he’s grown attached to his newfound identity. “My job sucked, I had no friends. But now I have all those things,” Rod says.”

Throughout the trailer, we see flashes of some of the baffling hijinks that Ricky creates, including an unfortunate accident at a bowling alley, a house fire, a physical altercation with Dean, and, most bizarrely, a successful circumcision.

The film marks Peter Farrelly’s return to comedic filmmaking after winning two Oscars for Green Book and teaming up with Efron on The Greatest Beer Run Ever. Before his dramatic turn, Farrelly helmed comedy classics like Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary with his brother Bobby Farrelly.