After years of talk, it looks like the Arrested Development movie finally has moved just a bit closer to becoming a reality.
Last month, the show’s creator Mitchell Hurwitz stated that he had an idea for an Arrested Development film but first wanted to make a short series of television episodes that would take the characters from where they were last seen when the show went off the air in 2006 to where he needs them for the start of the proposed film.
Friday, it was announced that online streaming provider Netflix has closed a deal to be the outlet for those pre-film episodes. Details as to how many episodes there will be and which characters they will feature are still absent, but the fact remains that this is the first concrete step towards the much mooted film actually heading towards cinemas.
As part of the announcement, the show’s producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard released the following statement –
Of all the projects we’ve been involved with over the years, we probably get more questions about Mitch Hurtwitz’s brilliant Arrested Development than any other– everyone, ourselves included, seems to feel like the Bluths left the party a bit too soon. Bringing a series back from cancellation almost never happens, but then, Arrested always was about as unconventional as they get, so it seems totally appropriate that this show that broke the mold is smashing it to pieces once again.
It’s not surprising that Netflix is the one bringing the series back. The service has already been making some tentative steps to generating their own original content and backing the return of Arrested Development would certainly generate interest in that endeavor. And let’s face it, Netflix could use some could use some good PR right about now.
