Ben Stiller decided he wanted to make a viral video to promote Tropic Thunder, with the help of his nephew. Ben got Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black to star in it. It’s pretty funny.

Below is the actual Tropic Thunder movie trailer, which is a lot funnier. Too bad Owen Wilson dropped out of the movie.

Robert Downey Jr. portrays a white man Kirk Lazarus, who is an Oscar-winning actor who dyes his skin black in order to play a black character in the most expensive Vietnam War film ever made. Tropic Thunder is the movie, and Ben Stiller wrote, and directed the movie.

Stiller says that he and Downey always stayed focused on the fact that they were skewering insufferable actors, not African-Americans. ”I was trying to push it as far as you can within reality,” Stiller explains. ”I had no idea how people would respond to it.” He recently screened a rough cut of the film and it scored high with African-Americans. He was relieved at the reaction. ”It seems people really embrace it,” he says.

Also appearing in the movie are Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise (in a fat suit), Matthew McConaughey, and Tobey Maguire. Owen Wilson was supposed to appear, but that was right about the time he tried to commit suicide.

Seeing a white guy trying to act black might be as funny as seeing Dave Chapel in white face trying to act white. The difference is, Dave is a comedian, and Robert isn’t, so …

Tom Cruise (pictured above) is on the set of the new Ben Stiller movie Tropic Thunder. The movie includes Robert Downey, Jr., and Matthew McConaughey. Owen Wilson was also cast, but he pulled out after his suicide attempt. Katie Holmes was also said to have made a cameo, but those rumors have been debunked. Is this what Tom will look like in ten years? Tom is doing a lot of these less than blockbuster movies lately. He must need some good press, which Lions to Lambs certainly did not provide.

This is Ben Stiller’s new movie called Night at the Museum, and it looks awesome. Great ending on this trailer.

Why two versions? The second trailer below has the funnier ending.

Ben Stiller gives a big shout-out on the Malibu set of his new film, The Heartbreak Kid, on Thursday. In the comedy, the funnyman plays a newlywed who meets another woman on his honeymoon.