The cast of Community attend Yahoo's Greendale School Dance at South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, in Austin, Texas
(Picture: Photo by Alli Harvey/Getty Images for Yahoo)Community the film is underway, creator Dan Harmon announced this week – along with other cast members confirming plans to be on board.
Speaking to NewsWeek about the “legitimate” plans, Harmon said: “I will now say it’s a matter of ‘when’. I have been so careful about [saying] that.
“It would have been accurate three years ago to say, ‘It’s a matter of when, not if.’ The wheels have been in motion for that long.
“The fan that Instagrams every day about Community, how can you tell them, ‘Yes, it’s definitely going to happen, but it may be between one and eight years from now’ — which is how the industry works, especially when you factor in pandemics and whatnot.”
Fans of the series will be familiar with the running joke “six seasons and a movie” that writers have included in the script, indicating the show’s lifeline.
Over the years, there has been doubt about the truth of this promise due to rocky behind-the-scenes decisions.
Harmon was fired from the show in 2012, resulting in a notoriously underperforming fourth season.
Following his return, NBC’s cancellation of Community in 2014 saw the series move to streaming platform Yahoo! Screen.
Since the end of season six of Community in 2015, the darkest season of them all, fans have awaited the return of the beloved characters.
An end card of the final episode, unrenewed for a seventh season, showed the infamous hashtag: #SixSeasonsAndAMovie.
There have previously been no specific plans revealed, but the show’s writer Harmon affirmed the culmination of long-term plans.
“How about this for a concrete thing?” Harmon said.
“There is an outline for it. There’s a product put together and pitched out in the world. I guess that’s how real it is.”
Speaking to TheWrap, he added: “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.”
Returning audiences may expect cast members Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Jim Rash, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Ken Jeong to be as excited – and they may be right, according to their enthusiasm at the 2020 Community virtual reunion.
Alison Brie, who plays Annie Edison, last week hinted that there has been “movement”.
She said: “There’s been some talks. People are talking and certain things — wheels are turning.”
But as the film has yet to be greenlit – will the Greendale study group see the big screen?
