Community Movie Delayed Indefinitely Confirms Joel McHale
The Community movie is delayed due to the writers' strike.
Fans of the Dan Harmon-helmed NBC sitcom Community may be realizing their greatest fears this week, as the upcoming Community movie has been put on indefinite hiatus, according to Joel McHale. In a recent sit-down with Collider, McHale explained that the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike has likely shut down production, with no word on when filming will begin. This is characteristic of the production, as the original six-season run of the show suffered many difficulties and complications behind the scenes, resulting in an on-again, off-again cancellation on their home network.
Fans of Community have been looking forward to finally fulfilling the motto of “Six seasons and a movie” since the show first concluded back in 2015, though Dan Harmon’s rocky relationship with the network as well as a seemingly revolving door of series leads threatened this vision from the start. Characterized by its all-star ensemble cast, including Joel McHale, Allison Brie, Jim Rash, and Chevy Chase, the Community movie suffered a number of hurdles getting off the ground before finally being announced back in September of 2022.
With more than seven original members of the Greendale study group, as well as a number of late additions to the series, the first issue the Community movie would face was its own casting. When the news of the film’s production was first released, fans were overjoyed to see names such as Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, and Joel McHale slated to return, but dismayed that names such as Yvette Nicole Brown and Donald Glover were mysteriously absent from the announcement. The final seasons of Community were mired with several major cast member departures, leaving many fans to demand a reunion in the film in order to bring closure to the character’s arcs.
The next hurdle the Community movie had facing its production was Dan Harmon himself. With the series creator and showrunner notorious for going over budget, failing to meet deadlines, and finding his own perfectionist tendencies impossible to satiate, fans worried that the film, even after being announced, would be nothing more than an illusion, destined to remain in development hell before quietly disappearing from Peacock’s slate of upcoming titles. Luckily, a number of these anxieties were alleviated as well when Joel McHale revealed that Dan Harmon would be drafting the film’s screenplay alongside a writing partner, Andrew Guest, in order to stay focused and remain on track.
Finally, the Community movie looked like it was going to become a reality, with Donald Glover publicly announcing the return of his fan-favorite character Troy Barnes, who was last seen boarding a boat across the world back in the series’ fifth season. Glover was notoriously regarded as one of the hardest actors to tie down for the film due to his enormous success with his own series, Atlanta, as well as his thriving career in music under the alias Childish Gambino. With Joel McHale maintaining that filming was set to begin as early as this June, the production seemed to be flowing exactly according to plan.
That is, of course, until the WGA strike officially kicked off last week, sending many productions, such as Saturday Night Live and a number of Late Night shows, into limbo. Unfortunately, with the Community movie’s screenplay still not finished, no further work can continue on the project until the writers are paid their fair wages. Joel McHale seems to remain quite hopeful that this won’t spell the end for the film, but the fans are left back on square one.
