Fans of Community have long clamoured for a feature film adaptation to follow the show's six televised seasons, and creator Dan Harmon has shared that a move to the big screen is still in the cards.
In conversation with Vulture's Good One Podcast, Harmon shared of a potential Community film, "I am, at least once a week, thinking about it, because the gears are turning," adding, "Logistically, the locks are coming away. The only problems are becoming the creative ones."
For Harmon, one of those creative problems is audience consideration. "Here's the biggest philosophical question: Are you supposed to service a mythical new viewer?" he asked. "The obvious, dogmatic, practical, off-the-street answer is like, no, you don't. It's fan service. Why would there be a Community movie? Who do you think is going to walk in off the street and buy popcorn and sit and watch a Community movie like that?"
"Saying that that person doesn't exist is a lot different from asking yourself structurally if you're supposed to design the movie for them, because there's a new viewer inside of all of us," Harmon continued. He likened it to a Marvel film including "inside references to all 90 other Marvel movies" at the outset, but losing those new viewers because it ends up "speaking in gibberish."
"Formalistically, you owe a movie that I think the fans can not only enjoy, but they can stand back and go, 'you know, the crazy thing about this Community movie is that if you didn't know there was a show, this is an insanely good movie,'" he concluded. "There's a reason to watch it and then definitely watch the series."
Harmon also acknowledged the potential challenge of getting the original Community cast — which includes Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase — to reprise their roles over five years removed from the show's final episode.
"Do you want to see these people play dress-up in their old outfits and come in and go, 'Look at me...Look what I used to do'? Yes, to some degree; no, to some degree," Harmon mused. "Contrary to that, do you want to see these people not doing that and coming in in pantsuits and going, 'I'm an adult now...Remember when we did this?'"
Last year, Harmon shared with The Wrap that "there are conversations happening" with regards to a Community movie, and that he was "very, very excited about the coming months."
Earlier this year, it was reported that Harmon was at work on a new series set in Ancient Greece.
In conversation with Vulture's Good One Podcast, Harmon shared of a potential Community film, "I am, at least once a week, thinking about it, because the gears are turning," adding, "Logistically, the locks are coming away. The only problems are becoming the creative ones."
For Harmon, one of those creative problems is audience consideration. "Here's the biggest philosophical question: Are you supposed to service a mythical new viewer?" he asked. "The obvious, dogmatic, practical, off-the-street answer is like, no, you don't. It's fan service. Why would there be a Community movie? Who do you think is going to walk in off the street and buy popcorn and sit and watch a Community movie like that?"
"Saying that that person doesn't exist is a lot different from asking yourself structurally if you're supposed to design the movie for them, because there's a new viewer inside of all of us," Harmon continued. He likened it to a Marvel film including "inside references to all 90 other Marvel movies" at the outset, but losing those new viewers because it ends up "speaking in gibberish."
"Formalistically, you owe a movie that I think the fans can not only enjoy, but they can stand back and go, 'you know, the crazy thing about this Community movie is that if you didn't know there was a show, this is an insanely good movie,'" he concluded. "There's a reason to watch it and then definitely watch the series."
Harmon also acknowledged the potential challenge of getting the original Community cast — which includes Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Chevy Chase — to reprise their roles over five years removed from the show's final episode.
"Do you want to see these people play dress-up in their old outfits and come in and go, 'Look at me...Look what I used to do'? Yes, to some degree; no, to some degree," Harmon mused. "Contrary to that, do you want to see these people not doing that and coming in in pantsuits and going, 'I'm an adult now...Remember when we did this?'"
Last year, Harmon shared with The Wrap that "there are conversations happening" with regards to a Community movie, and that he was "very, very excited about the coming months."
Earlier this year, it was reported that Harmon was at work on a new series set in Ancient Greece.
