Kevin James and Alan Ritchson are suburban dads hunted by mercenaries in Playdate first look (exclusive)

An afternoon playdate between two stay-at-home dads turns into high-stakes chaos in Entertainment Weekly's exclusive first look at Playdate.

From director Luke Greenfield (Let's Be Cops, Something Borrowed) and writer Neil Goldman (Shrinking, Scrubs), the action comedy stars Kevin James as Brian, a newly-unemployed accountant who becomes a stay-at-home dad to his young stepson after losing his job. He accepts a playdate invitation from the charismatic Jeff (played by Alan Ritchson), a fellow stay-at-home dad who turns out to be a loose cannon. 

Expecting a slow afternoon of small talk and football with their sons (played by Benjamin Pajak and Banks Pierce), Brian finds himself thrust into utter chaos as a group of ruthless mercenaries pursues him and Jeff. What begins as a playdate quickly "gets fired up into a full-blown survival situation," James tells EW.

Buckle up for a "wild and unpredictable roller coaster" ride with "no safety restraints," Greenfield says, adding, "Just when you think it's going one way, it swerves into something you never saw coming. But beneath the insanity, there's real heart, pathos, and vulnerability."

Ultimately, the director says he "wanted to tell a story about two dads learning how to be great fathers, even if they didn't have great fathers themselves."

It was the script's "surprising amount of heart" that drew Ritchson to the project, as well as the "wild contrast between suburban dad life and this total explosion of chaos and action." The Reacher star adds, "One minute you're tossing a football, the next you're dodging bad guys in a minivan. That absurd mashup of everyday parenting and full-blown action just spoke to me."

James echoes that sentiment, praising the story's "real-life relatability."

As the dads and their sons are hunted, the cautious Brian stumbles through "one ridiculous obstacle after another — his zero tactical skills a stark contrast to Jeff's oddly prepared demeanor," per the synopsis.

Ritchson says he and James "balanced each other really well," adding of his costar, "He played up the fish-out-of-water thing brilliantly, and I got to lean into this borderline-unhinged dad mode."

"I knew he'd bring the action," James says of Ritchson, quipping that the duo "would compare abs in between shots on set." The King of Queens alum jokes, "But what kind of annoyed me was how funny he was… I did not expect that."

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Greenfield reveled in the opportunity to showcase different sides of his leading men. “Everyone knows Alan as the badass who kicks ass, but I wanted to flip that on its head and show the world how truly hilarious he is,” the director says. “We all know Kevin’s a master of comedy, but even he’s doing something a little different here.”

Isla Fisher, Alan Tudyk, and Stephen Root also star in the comedy. “Every one of them is doing something unexpected,” Greenfield teases, adding, “Except my mom’s cameo. She’s always difficult to work with.”

“You’ve never seen a suburban backyard or an over-the-top indoor kid zone quite like this before,” Ritchson says of the mayhem that enfolds. “The movie is a perfect storm of chaos, heart, comedy, and adrenaline-fueled action.”

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James adds, "It's a nonstop series of crazy situations. Brian and Jeff are thrown into something far beyond what either of them anticipated, and they're forced to adapt quickly for the sake of their kids."

Grab some juice boxes and hop into the minivan: Playdate arrives Nov. 12 on Prime Video.