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Here's What's Going On with Peacock's Community Movie
"That was a bummer, because we were getting very close," star Joel McHale said of filming.
There's some good news and bad news for fans of Community. While the planned feature-length movie based on the NBC sitcom is still on course at Peacock, it's gonna take a little longer than expected to get rolling. The Writers Guild strike has put a hold on filming, which was supposed to kick off in June.
"That was a bummer, because we were getting very close," Joel McHale, who starred as main character Jeff Winger on the show, told TVLine Thursday. "But at the same time, I’m a thousand billion percent behind the writers. The writers need to be paid."
RELATED: Yvette Nicole Brown Hopes Streamers 'Reconsider' Pulling Controversial Community Episode
The show, set at a community college in Colorado, ran for five seasons on NBC (from 2009 to 2014), and a final sixth season on Yahoo! Screen in 2015. Peacock announced the movie was a go last fall, with creator Dan Harmon and executive producer Andrew Guest on board. McHale is set to return, along with other original stars including Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong. After the initial cast announcement last fall, Donald Glover has since said he's also returning.
“‘Six seasons and a movie’ started out as a cheeky line from Community’s early seasons and quickly ignited a passionate fan movement for this iconic, hilarious, and cool (cool, cool) NBC comedy,” Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said at the time the Peacock film was announced. “We’re incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie."
McHale told TVLine this week that the film is “still going to happen,” adding that “when this strike is over, we’ll come back and we’ll make it. And I am sure that Dan [Harmon] will put in 12 jokes addressing the fact it took [this long to happen]. But we’ll get there. It just may take a little while."
As for what the movie will be about, McHale said, “I know what’s going on but I can’t say anything.” He joked, “Everybody dies, it’s like the end of Hamlet,” but then said, “From what I know about it, it’s great, it really is. It’s going to be a barnburner.”
Can't wait for the Community movie to land? Check out another college-set comedy, Dear White People, now streaming on Peacock.
