Air Bud Returns Has The Most Bonkers Plot Description You'll Read In 2025

When it was released on August 1, 1997, Charles Martin Smith's sports picture "Air Bud" was already roundly mocked by the public at large. This was because of its Nike-inspired title, and for its premise, which many found risible: A 12-year-old boy, Josh (Kevin Zegers), moves to the small town of Fenfield, Washington after the death of his father. Despondent and alone, he happens into the company of a friendly golden retriever named Buddy, who is on the run from an evil party clown (Michael Jeter). Josh finds that Buddy can bound basetkballs off his nose and sink baskets, an extraordinary talent for a dog. Josh is on his school's basketball team, but they're not very good. I think you can see where this is headed.

In the film's climax, Josh and his team have to win a Big Game against another school, and they are one player short. Luckily, the referee checks the rule book. Ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball. Buddy is welcomed into the game, complete with a cult li'l doggy jersey and cut li'l doggie sneakers.

"Air Bud" was enough of a hit to warrant four additional sequels featuring the character, each one featuring a different sport; Buddy plays football, soccer, baseball, and beach volleyball. There were also seven films in the "Air Buddies" series (starring his puppies) and two films in the Christmas-themed "Santa Paws" tie-in series. 

According to an announcement in Variety, the legacy will continue next year. "Air Bud Returns" is slated for release in the summer of 2026 by Cineverse and Air Bud Studios. And, whoo doggy, does it sound weird. Not only will it be a legacy sequel, but a meta-commentary. The main character of "Air Bud Returns" will find an old VHS of the original "Air Bud" ... while also meeting a very real golden retriever that can play basketball.

Here's the poster for the new film:

Air Bud Studios

The synopsis reads as follows: 

"In 'Air Bud Returns,' 12-year old Jacob has always dreamt of being a star basketball player. After the passing of his father, that dream felt even more impossible. But everything changes when he and his mom move into his dad's childhood home in Fernfield. There, Jacob discovers an original VHS of the 'Air Bud' movie in his father's belongings and has a chance meeting of a stray golden retriever he names Buddy. Together they embark on a journey of healing, unite a team of misfits, and chase a championship. Through it all they learn to play from the heart, believe in each other, and always take the shot!"

I have questions. Firstly, if Jacob is moving back to Fernfield, his father's childhood home, is he the 12-year-old son of Josh, the protagonist from the first movie? Was Josh inspired by Charles Martin Smith's 1997 movie, and trained his foundling dog to play basketball? Or is the new Buddy some sort of manifestation of the old Buddy, magically released from the confines of the 1997 movie, like Freddy Krueger in "New Nightmare?" Also, Fernfield is a fictional place, invented for "Air Bud." Did Josh drive someplace fictional, like Sam Neill in "In the Mouth of Madness?" And what does it say that this plot description only reminds me of reality-bending horror movies from the mid-'90s? 

Cineverse chief motion pictures officer Yolanda Macias essentially admitted that the new "Air Bud" is a transparent nostalgia cash-in. Her statement read: "Anyone who follows the box office knows that we are experiencing an important moment at the intersection of '90s and early 2000s nostalgia, and millennial parents looking for family-friendly movies to share with their kids." We'll see how many millennial parents out there are so nostalgic for "Air Bud" that they will drag their kids to see a sequel in 2026.

For those who have never seen it, Charles Martin Smith directed the hell out of "Air Bud." He managed to make Fernfield, Washington look like a real town. It's damp and lush and lived-in. He actually allows Josh to go through a legitimate emotional journey, and his bonding with a dog feels like a real form of therapy. Also, "Air Bud" has one of the most helpful basketball drills I've ever seen on film: An old coach (Bill Cobbs) asks his young athletes to play a basketball game where they mime passing the ball around during a mock game. This forced them to pay closer attention to their teammates, and not obsess about the ball itself. That's something professionals could learn from ... and it's in "Air Bud!" 

Also, along with "I could have been a contender," and "This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship," "Air Bud" contains one of the best lines of dialogue ever written with "Ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball." 

So "Air Bud," while silly at its core, is an actual movie. It's the many sequels where they started to look cheap and the screenplays started to suck. Also, in the "Air Buddies" movies, the puppies spoke English (one of them was played by "Superman" Jimmy Olsen actor Skyler Gisondo) and encountered supernatural things, so any kind of grounded realism Charles Martin Smith inserted into his movie went well out the window. Time will tell if "Air Bud Returns" will evoke the magic of the first 1997 film, or if it will feel like yet another cheap sequel in a very long line of them. The last film in the series, "Super Buddies," was released in 2013. Perhaps with a 13-year hiatus, audiences will be ready again.