Will “Community” fans’ long-held dream of “six seasons and a movie” finally come to fruition?
Dan Harmon, who created the heralded comedy series that signed off in June 2015 after Season 6, told TheWrap that the show’s long-hoped-for feature film may still happen.
Harmon’s optimism remains alive due in part to a number of individuals who worked on the show and now hold considerable clout in Hollywood. This includes “Community” executive producers Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed the show’s pilot before helming such high-profile movies as “Captain America: Civil War” and the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War.”
“I keep having conversations with the kinds of people that could make it happen,” Harmon told TheWrap. “The Russo brothers moved from ‘Community’ to becoming industry shapers. So did one of our most popular directors, Justin Lin, who directed the first paintball episode.”
Harmon, whose “HarmonQuest” series released its Season 2 finale on Friday, said that Lin “in particular has always been jazzed about the idea of doing a ‘Community’ movie.” Lin, who directed three “Community” episodes, is better known as the guy who turned Universal’s “Fast and Furious” series into a billion-dollar franchise, directing the third through sixth installments. More recently, he helmed ” Star Trek: Beyond.”
“I hope I’m not talking out of school by saying that,” Harmon said of Lin’s interest. “I’ll get together with him every once in a while, or we’ll have dinner, and we’re talking — we keep trying to figure out how to do this.”
“Those are the kinds of guys, the Russos, plus Justin, plus a humble little me — maybe there is a way to secure the money and the momentum to make something happen,” the “Rick and Morty” co-creator continued. “But fingers crossed — don’t want to jinx it.”
Series lead Joel McHale said during a radio appearance in August that he believes the cast members “are all up for” doing a film. “I think if Dan writes it, there’s a world where that would happen,” McHale added.
“Community” launched in September 2009 and aired on NBC before moving to Yahoo! Screen for its final 13-episode run. The cast included McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, Chevy Chase and Jim Rash.
The Season 2 finale of “HarmonQuest” debuted Friday on VRV.