At some point during the run of the comedy Community, fans picked up the mantra “Six seasons and a movie!” The show had survived so much – the always looming threat of cancellation due to low ratings, a season-long dismissal of creator Dan Harmon and even a shift from network television to online distribution – that it seemed as if it would be a fait accompli that a cinematic capstone to the series would be on its way now that the “six seasons” part has been fulfilled. There has been no movie on the horizon yet, though Harmon still has hope that a film could happen. But he finding it hard to think about.
Speaking with Larry King on Hulu’s Larry King Now, Harmon admitted-
If I pull out a typewriter right now and write a Community movie just for my own heart and mind, then I have to go through the heartbreak and agony of finding out which of the people are gonna show up to make it. Whereas, on the other hand, if I wait for everybody to line up and say, ‘we’re all out of work and ready to do a Community movie,’ well, I guess that’s a bad idea, too.
That’s not to say that it won’t happen, it is just hard for him to commit to working on it until he knows that there is some solid backing from Sony and the cast. That’s not to say that support is not forthcoming. In the past, Harmon has stated that he still believes the studio has faith in the franchise and he hinted as such again when he tells King “It’ll make a great movie. It’ll happen.”
Harmon isn’t the only one who thinks that a Community film will happen at some point. Joe Russo, who along with his brother Anthony has directed a small handful of eipsodes before moving on to the last two Captain America films, stated two years back that he believes a movie will eventually happen.
Of course, as Harmon pointed out, the big problem would be cast availability. Many of the leads from the show are working on a number of projects now and coordinating schedules could be a bit of a trick. And while the show does have its devoted cult following (myself included), is there enough of an audience to make it worth doing the work to bring the cast back together? We’ll keep watching to see.
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