Will 'six seasons and a movie' finally happen after all?
For die-hard Community fans, the hopes for the comedy series have always been "six seasons and a movie!"
When the cast reunited on Monday for a virtual table read and fan Q&A benefiting nonprofits amid the coronavirus pandemic, talk of course turned to what that movie might entail.
Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong, as well as creator Dan Harmon, participated in the reading, marking Glover's first Community appearance since he left the show in season 5. And it was the Atlanta creator and star who unwittingly took the first stab at pitching a possible movie idea to the group.
Glover's character, Troy Barnes, was written off the show, leaving Greendale with LeVar Burton to sail around the world in a yacht bequeathed to him by the late Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase), and the actor and rapper initially joked that, "In the Community world, [Troy] is definitely dead."
However, he was excited about the idea of a film where Troy's best friend, Abed Nadir (Pudi), sets out to find him, lost at sea. "I like movies like that," he noted, joking, "What am I doing, writing the movie on the fly or something?"
Pudi was on board, as was the rest of the cast, who raised their hands when asked if they'd be willing to return for a movie, should Community fulfill its self-prophesied feature finale -- even though, as Glover reminded everyone, "We can't make movies right now anyway."
"I love the idea of Troy being lost and Abed’s mission is to go find him, try to track someone down — that would be fun," Pudi said.
Harmon agreed. "It writes itself… just put in some Die Hard references."
The cast came together via Zoom to read the season 5 episode "Cooperative Polygraphy," a bottle episode in which the study group gathers in the library after Pierce's funeral to hear what he's left them in his will, courtesy of an eccentric estate executor. While the executor was originally played by Walton Goggins in the 2014 episode, he was unavailable for Monday's reading. However, they had just the man(dalorian) for the job: Pedro Pascal -- who stole the show when he broke character during one particularly hilarious scene.
The laughs were for a good cause, as Sony pledged a contribution to two charities on behalf of the Community family -- José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen and Frontline Foods, both of which are helping feed frontline workers and vulnerable communities during the pandemic -- and fans were asked to donate as well, if they are able, to the Community fund.
Community started streaming on Netflix on April 1, and ET spoke with McHale last month about the "six seasons and a movie!" of it all.
"Oh, it's happening. We're filming it now. We have a budget of $250 million. We're shooting it in Costa Rica. It's taking place on a large pirate ship," he joked. "Well, I hope it happens. I know that Alison Brie tweeted she got a call from Sony and I think there's a world where it happens, but as you know, a lot has to happen. Scripts have to be written, actors have to be available. I mean, all these steps."
"I would do it in a New York minute," he continued, adding, "It's going to be hard to get a hold of Donald [Glover]... Obviously, Donald became -- I mean, I think people on Mercury know who he is. I know that he's the busiest person I know. You know, your John Olivers and obviously Alison, I mean, everyone has gone on to do shows."
"I know that Dan wants to do it, and I know that he's got so much Rick and Morty to do as well," McHale also noted. "So I don't know when he's going to find the time. But I'd love to do it."
See more in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
