Thursday
13Nov2008
Jeffrey Tambor Confirms 'Arrested Development' Movie (Again)
Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 1:28AM
So what's up with
Arrested Development? Are they making a movie?
Are they putting it off? Are they skipping it all together? Well, in the spirit
of the season of democracy, I'd say if you were to put it to a vote of people
who really mattered, the ayes would have it.
Jason Bateman
said this summer that was the plan.
Jeffrey Tambor revealed on Craig Ferguson that
it was the plan. Creator
Mitchell Hurwitz has wanted to at least explore
the possibility of a movie for some time.
And Tambor is talking again, telling Collider at a recent DVD launch party for Hellboy II, "We are doing it...it's a go. I just this week talked to Mitch Hurwitz. When the writer and the director and the executive producer calls you, that's a pretty good sign."
Hard to argue with that. Earlier this year, I watched the entire series again, just because it had become topical again. I don't think Hurwitz would have any trouble finding a place for the story to go. I mean, it kind of ended the way it began. But he might have trouble with having too many places for the story to go. The question in my mind is how big a factor will the passing of time be? Certain characters become more ingrained in our memories (I'm thinking Gob here), while others may have been stronger at the beginning of the series (Lindsey).
Does Hurwitz cater the film to fit the new wants of the audience? If so, remember that the biggest star from the shows these days is probably Cera. You'd see a lot more George-Michael if he does that. And if he does, who gets a reduced role? Buster? Don't want to do that, either.
With 90 minutes to two hours to play with, the storylines will probably be longer rather than more abundant. I don't think we'll see seven subplots just because it's longer. We'd probably still get three intertwined stories that would just occupy more time on screen. My wants are simple: Tobias, Bob Loblaw, and the continued practice of bleeping the swear words, even though they wouldn't have to. I suspect most fans will be happy with anything, but there's always that looming question about whether or not the film is good enough to have warranted making it in the first place.
Reader Comments (2)
There are some things that should be left well enough alone. For example Friday Night Lights should have been canceled after the first season. Am I the only one who has the guts to say it? Sure, Season 1 is amazing, but it is also self contained. And although season 2 was surely cut short by the writers strike, something about it just doesn't resonate the way that the very self-contained season one did.
They won state, for crying out loud! Where do you go from there?
My point is that certain characters age well in our collective memories, especially as more and more people discover them down the road of history. Apparently all of the people who refused to watch when Arrested Development aired on Fox, refused to buy the DVD's, and refused to watch when the entire series was run as a marathon on FX a few years later, are now discovering the show on Hulu.com and finally getting the jokes...
Finally!
Does that mean we need the cast to reunite for a movie? About as much as we need Slapshot 3: The Junior League, I think. The Hanson Brothers are back? I thought they were dead!
Still, I love every moment of Arrested Development, even the sad third season. Is the Bluth family still relevant? Or, are they more relevant than ever? Will a movie focus on Michael Cera's character George Michael? Because he is the only true star to come out of that cast. Or, will it relegate him to a cameo appearance like Wesley Crusher?
And will someone please make Will Arnett a star, already?
My feelings are undoubtedly mixed, because, where resurrecting a series that should be dead didn't work for Friday Night Lights, it worked for Firefly (which arguably should still not be dead!) and it worked for a steamroller called Sex and the City (which arguably should be a fully rotting corpse by now, as most of its cast is). The success of "Sex" is certainly why this project has grown legs. With AD however, I think it's time to walk away and remember the Bluth's as they were: Brilliant before their time.
What are your thoughts on a My So Called Life movie?