Six seasons and a movie — it’s finally happening!
A Community movie is apparently in the works, with star Joel McHale stating the film will begin shooting in 2024.
It’s been nine years since we last saw our favorite Greendale Human Beings, and we have a lot of questions about the upcoming film. Here’s everything we know so far about the Community movie.
Community Movie Release Date
There has been a lot of back and forth about whether a Community movie would ever be made. With the famous “six seasons and a movie” line from the show, fans have long held out hope.
In September 2022, Peacock ordered a Community movie. However, series creator Dan Harmon later expressed concern that the movie wouldn’t happen at all despite being “nearly done” with the script.
In January 2023, Joel McHale said the movie would be filming that summer, but production was canceled due to the actor and writer strikes.
Now, the biggest issue seems to be star Donald Glover’s busy schedule. Arguably the most successful member of a pretty stacked cast, Glover is hard to nail down.
Peacock has now agreed to work around Glover’s schedule in order to make the movie happen. It seems we’re finally getting our fated movie.
Peacock hasn’t announced a release date yet, as production hasn’t started. But we’re sure we’ll hear from Harmon or McHale when they have more news.
Community Movie Trailer
The Community movie hasn’t started shooting yet, so unfortunately, we don’t have a trailer or teaser to give us any hints as to what we can expect.
Never fear; we’ll keep an eye out and bring you more information once production ends and a trailer drops.
How Did Community End?
The Community series ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2015, for a total of 110 episodes.
The series kicked off with disgraced lawyer Jeff Winger, played by McHale, heading to Greendale Community College to get his degree.
Taken by pretty coed Britta, Jeff joined a study group to get in her good graces, and the rest is history.
The group, composed of seven people of wildly varying personalities, became fast friends and engaged in all sorts of crazy hijinks while at Greendale.
Initially, Jeff and Britta played out a will-they/won’t-they that spanned several seasons, while group member Annie quietly pined for Glover’s Troy.
Later, Britta briefly dated Troy, and Jeff and Annie started a will-they/won’t-they of their own.
Meanwhile, Troy and Abed formed one of the most adorable friendships in television history.
Shirley spent the series acting as the unofficial mom of the group, while Pierce could only be described as the group’s weird uncle.
On Community Season 5, Chevy Chase’s Pierce was killed off the show due to tensions on set between Chase and several other cast members.
Donald Glover’s Troy also left the show that season, as Glover’s schedule became too complicated to continue filming.
Yvette Nicole Brown’s Shirley left in Season 6 to take care of her father.
On the final season of Community, the remaining members of the study group finally said goodbye. Jeff stayed at Greendale as a professor, while Britta’s ending remained unknown.
Abed left for Los Angeles to work in Hollywood, and Annie headed to Washington, DC, to intern with the FBI.
With the study group scattered to the wind by the end of the series, we’re itching to know what they’ve been up to for the last nine years.
Community Movie Plot
Peacock and creator Dan Harmon are being pretty tight-lipped about the plot of the Community movie.
Harmon has dropped a few hints, though. He’s confirmed the movie will be set on the Greendale Community College campus, so we can assume this means we’ll get a class reunion.
After all, the movie’s timing, with production starting nine years after the series ended, sets it up for a ten-year reunion.
Harmon also let us know that one of the fan-favorite plot points, the yearly paintball fight, would be absent from the movie.
Alison Brie, who starred as Annie Edison in the series, has said she hopes to see a rehash of the romantic tension between her character and McHale’s Jeff Winger. We hope she’s right!
With Danny Pudi and Donald Glover, both set to return for the movie, we’re looking forward to a Troy/Abed reunion and maybe even a reprisal of “Troy and Abed in the Morning.”
Community Movie Cast: Will Donald Glover and Other Big Stars Return?
The biggest question surrounding the Community movie is which cast members will be returning.
The entire original cast — minus the contentious Chevy Chase — will be back for the film.
Joel McHale will reprise his role as Jeff Winger, with Gillian Jacobs and Alison Brie returning as Britta Perry and Annie Edison.
Our favorite BFF duo will be back as well. Danny Pudi will star as Abed Nadir, and Donald Glover is set to return as Troy Barnes.
Rounding out the study group cast will be Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett.
Of course, part of what made Community such a memorable show was the zany supporting cast.
Jim Rash will be back as the outlandish Dean Craig Pelton, and Ken Jeong will return as the even more wacky Ben Chang.
Community Movie Cast Additions
The IMDB page for the Community movie only lists most of the main study group characters (minus Yvette Nicole Brown, though she has been confirmed to return), along with Rash and Jeong.
We’re not sure yet which other supporting characters we can expect to pop in for the movie.
John Oliver, who played Professor Ian Duncan, is extremely busy these days with his weekly news satire show Last Week Tonight. We hope he can drop by for a quick appearance.
Other fan-favorite characters we’d love to see again include Starburns, Garrett Zander Lambert, Todd Jacobson, Leonard, and Magnitude (Pop Pop!).
Donald Glover has hinted that the Community movie will feature a college reunion, so we’re doubting we’ll see too many new faces.
The movie seems more like it will be a nostalgia-fest for dedicated fans rather than introducing new characters and plot lines.
With the previous romantic tension between Jeff and Annie, maybe Annie will return to Greendale with a new boyfriend in tow.
We’ll have to wait for updates to the cast list before we know more.
Where Can I Watch Community?
The entire Community series is available to stream on both Netflix (until March 31) and Hulu. With 110 episodes in six seasons, there’s plenty to binge while we wait for the movie.
Streaming platform Peacock will be the home of the Community movie when it finally releases, so you can catch it there.
Is this exciting or what? Are you a Community fan who has been waiting for the long-promised movie?
We’ll be sure to bring you more news about the Community movie as we learn it, so check back with us regularly!
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Shela Ward is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. You can follow her on X.
