Another beloved comedy show is getting a follow-up movie, but this one might be the most anticipated: the Community movie is on its way, and fans of the cult classic show couldn't be more excited.
Community was about a study group of a whacky community college: sleazy lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), nerdy athlete Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), innocent overachiever Annie Edison (Alison Brie), ironic activist Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), Christian mother Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), pop culture addict Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) and aging millionaire Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) all weather the storm of strangeness that is Greendale Community College. And after the show wrapped in 2014, (almost) all of them are coming back for a movie.
It was always going to happen; after "six seasons and a movie" became a catchphrase in the show for Abed regarding his beloved shows, fans of Community adopted it as their own mantra. When the show eventually finished after six seasons, it was inevitable that it'd follow suit, and while it took a decade, the circle was complete in 2022 when the Community movie was announced.
While the Community movie has been confirmed, details about it are light on the ground. So here's everything we know so far about the Community movie.
The Community movie release date
A Community release date floating around the internet suggested it could come out as soon as Monday, March 25, 2024. This is a joke, though, told by one of the show's stars Joel McHale in his typical dry style, to website toofab. The movie will not be out that soon.
McHale did confirm in that same interview that "we will shoot the movie this year definitely". This lines up with what script writer (and Community creator) Dan Harmon said in February 2024 that the script was "almost done". Both these facts point to the movie being shot in mid- to late-2024.
If that's true, we will likely see the Community movie come out in 2025. After all, this won't be a special effects-heavy series that'll require ages to be edited, so hopefully we'll have a release date confirmed by early 2025.
When it does arrive, the Community movie will be streaming on Peacock, which also has rights to show the TV show itself.
Outside of the US, streaming options haven't been announced yet. However NBCUniversal (which is making the Community movie and owns Peacock) has previously made deals with various global streamers like Prime Video and Paramount Plus to air its originals outside the States, so there's a good chance that someone will pick it up.
The Community movie cast
All but one of the main stars of the Community TV show have been confirmed to return for the movie.
Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi and Gillian Jacobs will all be starring in the movie. That just excludes Chevy Chase, who left after season 4 and is reportedly on bad terms with the show as a whole.
When the Community movie was originally announced, Glover and Nicole Brown were reportedly not in the main cast. They've since confirmed that they'll be involved, though whether it's as a member of the main cast or in smaller roles hasn't been confirmed.
Two other important cast members are going to be in the movie: one is Ken Jeong as Ben Chang, the Spanish teacher turned student turned squatter turned security guard turned school dictator turned amnesiac turned math teacher. The other is Jim Rash as Dean Pelton, the flamboyant dean of Greendale. Both are beloved characters of the show so it's only fitting that they'd return.
Beyond that, no members of the recurring cast have been confirmed to feature, but that doesn't mean that they won't. Beloved characters like Magnitude, Fat Neil, Vicki, Star-Burns, Buzz Hickey, Elroy or Garrett could return, but we don't know yet. Sadly Richard Erdman, who played grouchy pensioner Leonard, passed away in 2019 so he won't be back.
Presumably there will be new faces for the movie too, but there's been no word on that either.
Plot
At the time of writing, some Community plot details have been revealed, in an interview Donald Glover gave to The Hollywood Reporter.
Apparently, the movie will center around a college reunion for the students. However, in true Community style, the movie we see will also be a movie created in-universe, by Abed, who's since become a big movie director. Very meta!
This sets us up for all sorts of beloved characters to return, as well as the main cast of course.
