Dan Harmon Says Long-Awaited ‘Community’ Movie Still A Go, But Currently ‘In A Holding Pattern’

Not so Dean-tastic news, Community fans. It seems we’ll have to wait just a little longer to re-enroll at Greendale.

According to series creator Dan Harmon, the long-awaited film adaptation of his acclaimed NBC sitcom that ran between 2009 and 2015 is “still happening,” but currently “in a holding pattern” as the production attempts to wrangle the show’s original cast members: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry), Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley Bennett), Alison Brie (Annie Edison), Donald Glover (Troy Barnes), Ken Jeong (Ben Chang), and Jim Rash (Dean Pelton).

“It’s hard to coordinate schedules,” Harmon exclusively tells me over a Zoom call centered around the eighth season of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty (premiering May 25 at 11:00 p.m. ET).

He goes on to joke that audiences have waited so long, they’ve probably begun to die of old age. “I think maybe they’ve started dying off, so we’re not hurting as many people anymore by the continued delays. God rest their souls. We’re going to have a memorial service for half of our audience tomorrow in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. No, I have nothing to report right now — other than the continued enthusiasm for time to polish a script while we coordinate schedules for a great movie.”

Fans have clamored for a Community feature for years, often rallying around the now-iconic slogan first shouted by Pudi’s Abed in Season 2: “Six seasons and a movie!”

That dream finally became a reality in 2022 when NBCUniversal’s fledgling Peacock streaming service green-lit the project. Harmon would write the script with Andrew Guest (writer behind some of the show’s most popular episodes), while nearly all of the original actors were confirmed to reprise their beloved characters.

Glover and Brown came aboard not long after.

In addition to stepping back into the shows of Jeff Winger, McHale is also set to executive produce the film alongside Harmon, Guest, Russ Krasnoff, and Gary Foster.

“‘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 NBC comedy,” Susan Rovner, Chairman, Entertainment Content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said in a statement at the time. “We’re incredibly grateful that 15 years later, we are able to deliver fans this promised movie and can’t wait to get to work with Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest, Joel McHale, Sony and our partners at UTV to continue this epic comedy for Peacock audiences.”

“Community was light years ahead of its time when it premiered on NBC in 2009 and we are thrilled to once again visit the brilliant minds of Dan Harmon, Andrew Guest and this impeccable cast. We are grateful to Peacock, our partners at UTV and to all the zealous fans who have cherished this iconic show,” added Jason Clodfelter, Co-President, Sony Pictures Television Studios.

Erin Underhill, President, Universal Television, concluded: “This franchise is the very definition of community. We’re excited to bring the band back together and continue the journey of these beloved characters.”

Since then, however, there have been precious few updates on the movie, whose production has been pushed back again and again. McHale offered up some promising news last month, revealing that the budget had been approved, echoing Harmon’s statement on scheduling issues, and cautiously guessing at a fall 2025 start date.

“We are funded. That is the hardest thing to get made, or get to get done, and we have got that done,” he said (via Us Weekly). “It’s come down to scheduling. And so, I think it’ll be done by — I think it’ll shoot at some point this year. Probably in the autumn. That’s my prediction and that’s also my hope.”

All six seasons of Community can be found on Peacock