B.S. Watch: The ‘Arrested Development’ Movie
The Rumor: Since February ‘08 we’ve been following rumors that they’re bringing LiC favorite Arrested Development to the big screen.
Why it could be true: Most of the cast who have been asked – seemingly all of them…seriously, every time one of them does a junket or a round table or an interview, some blogger asks about it – have expressed interest in the project and the trades even reported last November that series creator Mitch Hurwitz was “close to a deal with Imagine and Fox Searchlight to write and direct a feature adaptation” of the Emmy-winning sitcom.
Why it’s probably not: Every account of whether the film is a reality or not shares one fact in common: there’s no script yet. Michael Bay might argue to the contrary, but you can’t really make a movie without a script. Until there’s a script, this movie is little more than a fantasy.
Do we care? We were huge fans of AD during its original TV run and we were sad to see it never caught on with audiences, but we’ve said our goodbyes and we’ve moved on. Whenever we get a craving for a frozen banana, or a chicken dance, or a ride in the stair car, we pop in a DVD. Frankly, we’re pretty sick of TV shows being turned into movies (though we’re happy to patiently wait a couple of years for people to realize the comic genius that was Land of the Lost) so, no, we’re not really looking forward to this one.
The verdict. It’s definitely possible and it’s clear the right forces want it to happen, but until there’s a script the likelihood is about 50/50 at best. Even if a script is finished, there are still a million things that could go wrong before cameras roll, especially with such a large cast of people who would have to be brought back together. Our opinion? Arrested Development is going to stay arrested.
Filed under: Rumors
Tags: Arrested Development, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Cera, Mitch Hurwitz, Will Arnett
BEST SHOW.
I watched the entire run on TV and could never get anyone else to watch it, but once it came out on DVD, they were hooked.
I’m looking forward to the film (assuming it happens).
I’ll definitely see it if it happens, but I’m not holding my breath.
I had an impossible time getting people to watch that show. What sucked is that they’d actually watch an episode and love it, but then they’d never watch it again. Like it was on at a bad time or something.
I want to legally change my name to Bob Loblaw.
That’s part of the problem — the show wasn’t on any sort of regular schedule. There would be times when I would miss an episode because FOX had moved the show to a different day and time without advertising it. I was only able to fully catch up on the second season when they ran summer reruns after season two ended. The thing with AD, because it’s not a traditional sitcom, if you don’t watch from the start, you get lost. FOX just never gave it a fair shot.
Which reminds me — have you heard of the Arrested Development Documentary Project? It’s been following the progress of the film, it’s pretty interesting.
(Perhaps you should add Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog to your blogroll…)
I don’t see this film happening at all. I liked the first few episodes but like I’ve whined before, it devolved into non-linear absurdity.
Non-linear absurdity is the best!
AD took absurdity to new heights and it was amazing while it lasted, but I never really saw it as non-linear. It did take great pains to mock and deconstruct the traditional sit-com narrative, so I suppose there’s that.
AD’s biggest problem was that it was so self-referential newcomers couldn’t easily get into it. It was also a little ahead of its time for network television.
Chicken dance: Ka-KAW, Ka-KAW!
Hahahah…Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog…HAHAHAHA
You know, Cinematical mentioned the Doc in a piece that gave me the inspiration for this post, but I didn’t pay attention to it…maybe I should…?
AD was a niche show in a mass medium so it was pretty much doomed no matter what methinks, but I’m with Christian. This show isn’t going to happen.
by the way here’s a trailer for the fan doc of which K speaks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC4RToo6XeI
It’s pretty funny.
Here’s the website: http://arresteddevelopmentdoc.com/
How if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash blue paint off the walls of my model home.