Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz Is Working On The Movie Now
Will the Arrested Development movie ever happen? That’s been the question before and after the fourth season of the beloved Fox comedy landed on Netflix. From what series creator Mitch Hurwitz says, it’s looking like the answer is yes. Or hopefully, anyway. While Hurwitz notes that he doesn’t own the property outright and seems reluctant to confirm with all certainty that the movie is a go, he did say that he’s working on it now and he sounds optimistic that the film could happen.
Seven years after its final episode of Arrested Development aired on Fox, Arrested Development made a major comeback, thanks in part to Netflix. The subscription video service debuted all fifteen episodes of the comedy series’ fourth season in May, bringing the Bluths (and Funkes) back to the small screen. While the fourth season did update us on what’s been going on with the dysfunctional family in the sizable gap between seasons, it left off unresolved, leaving fans to wonder when we’d see the next installment, and whether or not that would be on the big or small screen. From what Hurwitz Rolling Stone that he’s working on the movie right now:
“I’m working on the movie right now. I can’t get into much more detail because I don’t want to scare anybody off. I don’t want to be presumptuous about it. I don’t own the property outright – it’s a 20th Century Fox property. But everybody seems really into it and really eager to make a movie.”
Hurwitz goes on to express hope that the movie will happen “as soon as possible,” but he’s hesitant to speculate on exactly when, as he doesn’t want to put false information out there. “Right now, I’m trying to do something else for Netflix and a movie project and things. I’m always sort of superstitious about talking about this stuff before it happens. It’s the best way to guarantee it doesn’t happen.”
That seems like a realistic way to approach the situation, lest he unintentionally string fans along for what could be a while (but hopefully won’t). Cast availability will likely be an issue, as it was for the series’ fourth season. Bringing the entire cast back together for Season 4 was surely tricky, given the stars’ other commitments. While that will likely be the case again for the film, Hurwitz did point out that it may be more doable to get them back together for the movie, considering the shorter commitment required to make a film, by comparison to the six-month commitment required for a TV season. It’s with that in mind that I feel much more optimistic about the prospect of a movie coming next, as opposed to another season on Netflix. If there was one notable area where Season 4 fell short, it was how divided the cast was. Breaking up the episodes by character plot was likely the best solution possible to deal with the cast’s limited availability — and how all of the character plots and events braided together from the beginning of the season to the end was seriously impressive — but there was a noticeable shortage of moments were more than two or three lead characters were in a scene together at the same time. And given the chemistry of the cast, that was disappointing. If the film does get off the ground, hopefully the cast’s schedules will allow them to film more scenes together.
In the meantime, Rolling Stone says Hurwitz’s ultimate goal is to make the film and then do another season of the series. I imaging imagine that would suit fans just fine, especially if it means getting the Bluths back together for more antics. If you agree, feel free to celebrate this update by rocking out with the FakeBlock app.