“That Is A Huge Step”: Community Movie’s Revised Timeline Confirmed By Joel McHale

Community star Joel McHale provides an update on the upcoming movie’s timeline. McHale played leading character Jeff Winger in the acclaimed sitcom, which covers a distinct group of community college students and the antics they get into. In addition to McHale, Community‘s talented leading cast included Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jim Rash, Richard Erdman, Dino Stamatopoulos, and Erik Charles Nielsen.

Speaking with GQ, McHale addresses the status of the Community movie. The actor confirmed that the film “hasn’t been shot yet” and said that he could not offer “a definitive update.” On a more hopeful note, however, McHale said that the team “[has] the money” for the Community movie, which the former star sees as a step forward. In terms of the updated timeline, he said “vaguely next year” but did not provide a concrete update as to the release date or the production schedule. Check out the full quote from McHale below:

Oh, well, it hasn’t been shot yet. It will be. And I don’t have a definitive update because we thought for a moment it was going to all happen this year, and then it didn’t. But we have the money, and that is a huge step. And hopefully, people still want to see it. And Peacock’s paying for it. And so I can’t wait to do it. I’ll say vaguely next year. How about that?

The Community movie was first announced back in September 2022, after several of the former leading cast members had hinted at the project. In stark contrast to his most recent statement, McHale stated in early 2023 that the Community movie would likely start filming later that year, evening stating a start window as early as June 2023. The film’s progress took a shift, however, when Community creator Dan Harmon (who is also working on the feature film) revealed in late 2023 that the production was delayed.

At the time, Harmon’s perspective on the project was pessimistic in nature. He wrote that “By the time we can recoordinate, what are the odds that everyone’s schedule is going to once again align?,” in reference to the struggle to reform the production after the conclusion of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that rattled the industry last year. Harmon is right that several of the cast members have gotten busy since leaving the show. For instance, Glover has delved further into his musical career as Childish Gambino, as well as his work on the series Atlanta and other projects.

Surmounting the obstacles, however, it was later confirmed that the Community movie was still in development. McHale’s most recent statement is hopeful in this regard, as the actor has confirmed that the Community movie has the funding to move forward. Even though its release date or filming timeline has not been confirmed, fan’s concerns can be eased by the confirmation that the Community movie is indeed happening and it has funding.

Source: GQ

Community

The Community movie is the long-awaited sequel to the television series created by Dan Harmon. The film, which was always comedically teased throughout the series with the phrase “Six seasons and a movie,” will see the majority of the cast return for a big adventure that will pick up some time after the sixth season.

Studio(s)

Sony Pictures Television

Distributor(s)

Peacock

Writers

Dan Harmon