George Clooney is set to make his first-ever Super Bowl commercial appearance during Super Bowl 2026, starring in Grubhub’s debut Big Game advertisement airing Sunday, Feb. 8.
The 30-second spot teams the Academy Award-winning actor with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, marking the director’s first Super Bowl commercial following his acclaimed film Poor Things.
The ad unfolds inside an opulent castle, where a formally dressed group of guests gathers for a lavish dinner party overflowing with takeout food. As the evening builds with theatrical tension, the final “course” arrives in the form of delivery fees.
Clooney’s character steps in to deliver the campaign’s key message: “Grubhub will eat the fees,” referencing the company’s move to eliminate delivery and service fees on restaurant orders over $50.
Clooney expressed excitement about collaborating with Lanthimos on the project. “When I heard Yorgos Lanthimos was directing his first Super Bowl spot for Grubhub, and they called and asked me to be a part of it, I was thrilled,” the 64-year-old star tells PEOPLE. “He’s one of my favorite directors.”
According to Grubhub, the decision to eliminate fees is intended to be a permanent change rather than a short-term promotion. The company noted that delivery and service fees on orders of $50 or more can average around $13 across major delivery platforms, making greater pricing transparency a key priority.
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Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal said in a statement that the initiative is designed to ease customer frustration over rising delivery costs and put “hundreds of millions of dollars back into customers’ pockets.”
The Super Bowl commercial will air during the third quarter and will serve as the centerpiece of a larger Grubhub marketing push. The broader campaign includes out-of-home advertising, digital activations, and limited-time restaurant deals launching during Big Game week and continuing in the weeks that follow.
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Clooney said collaborating with Yorgos Lanthimos on the commercial felt no different from working with him on a full-length feature. “Honestly, nothing changed,” he explained. “He treats a 30-second spot the same way he treats a film.”
The actor noted that the production maintained the same level of detail and artistry as Lanthimos’ movies. “We’re in this incredible castle with these terrific actors,” Clooney said. “He uses his same cameraman that he shoots every film with. He has a very clear point of view, and that carried all the way through.”
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Clooney described the final product as “a very short, two-minute Yorgos Lanthimos film,” distilled into a Super Bowl-ready format.
The campaign represents a major milestone for both Clooney and Grubhub, pairing a first-time Super Bowl advertiser with the actor’s first-ever Big Game commercial appearance. It also serves as the launchpad for a pricing shift the company says it intends to keep in place well beyond Super Bowl Sunday.
