Community and Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon says that it’s finally time to pay off that whole “six seasons and a movie” thing that’s been going around since about 2011. The writer/producer says that they have a great story in place for a Community movie, now says that there’s story in place for the film, and it’s really only a matter of time before it all comes together. This is the most promising update yet, after years of waiting since Community ended in 2015 and there has been no new content since. After six seasons, the series wrapped, and for most people, that would be quite a lot. But because of a throwaway gag in a 2011 episode, fans have been asking for “six seasons and a movie” since its first cancellation scare after season 3.
The series, which ran for five years on NBC before moving to Yahoo! Screen (remember that streaming service? Nobody else does either, don’t feel bad), has been a big hit on streaming, giving fans a chance to rewatch the show from the beginning and revel in the mountains of pop culture jokes, high-concept comedy, and brilliantly-realized sitcom characters. That seems to have revitalized interest in a movie on the part of people who have the money to potentially make one.
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“I’ll confirm what Alison [Brie] said, which is that legitimacy is here, conversations and agreements are happening,” Harmon told TheWrap.” “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.”
“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?” Harmon added. “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….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.”
Community centered on a group of misfits who became friends as part of a study group in a community college. The series starred Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Chevy Chase, and Oscar winner Jim Rash.
“I’m setting aside all the money to make [the movie] happen,” McHale recently told ComicBook.com. “Before when I’d answer the question, I’d be like, ‘Maybe, I have no idea.’ But now, with its success on the streamers during the pandemic, the interest has returned. I would say it’s more likely than it was before, definitely, but it’s like building an aircraft carrier. You go, ‘We’re gonna do this, right? Yeah, okay, everybody’s here, we got the money.’ Now, this thing has to actually get built. There’s a lot more than just ‘Hey, let’s make a movie now, great.’ It’s a lot of moving parts. So I’m more positive than I was, definitely, but we’ll see. That’s a terrible answer, but definitely better than my answer two years ago.”
At one point in the series, when Abed (Pudi) fell in love with a TV show that’s destined for a quick cancellation, he denied it by shouting “six seasons and a movie!” For fans of a show that was constantly living on the cancellation bubble, it became an instant battle cry. Once the show got its improbable sixth season, it started to feel like a movie was inevitable.
