“Six seasons and a movie.” This statement, frequently spoken by Danny Pudi‘s Abed, had become something of a forgotten promise for fans of the hit NBC show Community. Starring an ensemble cast, the series revolved around an unlikely group of adult friends attending a community college in Colorado and often found joy in making its stories as zany as possible. Meta commentary and inside jokes became the name of Community‘s game, which is where the aforementioned phrase – which started as a jest – transformed into a full-blown rallying cry about the show’s potential future. With the help of a move to Yahoo! Screen, the series managed to hit its six-season mark. Now, according to creator Dan Harmon, that movie may be happening as well.
One of the series’ stars, Alison Brie, recently told The Wrap that “legitimate conversations” were occurring behind the scenes in regards to pushing a Community film forward. During a follow-up interview with Harmon, who is currently promoting the sixth season of his animated series Rick & Morty, the creative confirmed this to be true. He also revealed there is already a story outline in place, though he’s unsure if it will be the one used should a movie actually come to life:
I’ll confirm what Alison said which is that legitimacy is here, conversations and agreements are happening. There’s a story – who knows if we’ll end up sticking to it, but it was something we had to compile in order to take it out and court various venues. And now negotiations happen.
Dan Harmon
Harmon went on to explain that, while there is movement on the film, that doesn’t mean fans will be seeing it in theaters anytime soon. Sometimes, film production can take a lot longer than one would hope. Harmon cites the multi-year process the project has undergone since Community ended in 2015:
Now, I say that with such caution, because sometimes the audience is like, ‘So that means what a year, two years?’ I could have said what I just said three years ago and it would have been almost as accurate, and can you imagine if I had said that three years ago? That’s me setting people up for three years of abusive neglect and making them feel forgotten, and it’s hard enough to just say nothing.
Dan Harmon
Ending on a rather positive note, however, Harmon concedes the film will happen one day, as long as the world doesn’t end first:
When you put the percentage chances together it’s like you have to account for maybe the world blowing up or another virus happening. But as far as the industry is concerned, this is a matter of when and not if, for sure.
Dan Harmon
It remains to be seen which cast members would return for a reunion film, though several major players have publicly expressed interest in coming back to their roles. Joel McHale, Ken Jeong, Gillian Jacobs, and Brie have all stated they’d reprise their characters should the opportunity arise, and it feels like that may be enough to get names like Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Jim Rash on board as well. Donald Glover remains the biggest question mark, having left the show midway through its fifth season to pursue other interests and found great success. Hopefully, this process doesn’t take too long and fans learn more sooner than later.
Source: The Wrap
