The “Community” plan for six seasons and a movie hit a snag during the ongoing WGA strike.
Joel McHale, who stars in the offbeat sitcom ensemble alongside Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Chevy Chase, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong, has provided an update on the Peacock film adaptation previously announced. Of note, it hasn’t been confirmed that original cast members Brown, Chase, and Glover will return for the film.
“We had a shooting date coming up, which would be in the summer,” McHale said Variety. “And I think they were extremely close to – I mean, (creator) Dan (Harmon) is someone who tweaks things but, obviously, it’s still. But I think he was damn close.
McHale, who serves as executive producer on the film, continued, “It was close, the shoot date was coming up and we were all excited to do it and then the writers strike happened, which of course put everything on hold, and rightly so. The writers ask for very reasonable things. Writers must be paid adequately.”
Series creator Harmon and co-writer Andrew Guest are writing the screenplay for the feature film “Community.” McHale noted that a director is being confirmed.
“I know who wants to do it and we’re talking and they’re interested and committed,” said the former ‘Soup’ talk show host.
Showrunner Harmon previously addressed the highly anticipated film version.
“The fan who Instagrams ‘Community’ every day, how can you tell them, ‘Yeah, it’s definitely going to happen, but it could be one to eight years from now’ — and that’s how the industry works, especially when you factor in pandemics and whatnot,” Harmon said when last hinting at the possibility of a film. “It feels like psychological torture, from a fan’s point of view, to keep looking in the backseat of a station wagon and saying, ‘Who wants McDonald’s?’ And keep driving along the highway. I don’t want to be guilty of causing that feeling. Sometimes it takes so long.
“Community” premiered in 2009 and followed a group of misfit community college students. The series won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation in 2011.
