All Bluth-ophiles rejoice! The word on the street continues to be the good word when it comes to the obsession-inducing television show called Arrested Development. Since the show suffered from the crime of cancellation, rumors began floating around about original programming gurus like HBO or Showtime picking up the show. Once those rumors faded, the obligatory movie rumors started to come into play. After some time, it became apparent that a movie based on the show might actually happen. There was even talk of a script being written by the amazing creator Mitch Hurwitz. There have been some fairly solid confirmations on this front, mostly by the actors claiming to have discussed the possibility or to be on board if a movie deal were to surface. However, recently we got some pretty solid confirmations that not only is a movie in the works, but there might also be a plan for a short run on TV before the movie comes out.
At the New Yorker Comedy Festival, creator Mitch Hurwitz mentioned the possibility of a mini-season of about nine or ten episodes airing to lead up to the movie release. This was the catalyst to some timely twitter comments made by a couple of the stars on the show, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, who have always been among the most vocal in regards to comments and answers made about an upcoming film project. Jason Bateman said “It’s true, we will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early '13." Will Arnett plugged in also by saying, "I'm peeing with @batemanjason at the moment..and we can confirm that we are going to make new AD eps and a movie."
Of course all fans of TV, and especially hardcore fans of the show will find this news most appealing, but the folks who will really benefit are the ones who have only heard of how great the show is but haven’t tried to experience it. With it coming to TV first, those people will have a chance to get into it first, go back and watch the old episodes, then go out to see the movie when it’s released.
I’m sure the shooting schedule and some other issues will be a battle since Arnett is already on a new TV Show, and Michael Cera and Jason Bateman are making a ton of films. However, Hurwitz did mention that maybe each episode would focus more on a certain character on the show to avoid some scheduling mishaps.
