What about George Michael?

Ever since Arrested Development was cancelled a couple of years ago, rumors have abounded that a movie was in the works. While most of the rumors were, well, rumors, more and more concrete developments are coming to light.

Here's the latest...

Per The Hollywood Reporter:

• The "Arrested Development" feature has moved closer to reality, with Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard reportedly closing deals for the long-gestating project from Imagine and Fox Searchlight.
  
  The possible migration of the critically acclaimed but short-lived Fox series to the big screen has been a hot topic among fans for the past year. Speculation has been fueled by cast members of the show, including Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Jeffrey Tambor, who have been frequently quoted in interviews that a feature adaptation is in the works.
  
  Hurwitz, who created and exec produced the Emmy-winning series, is on board to write the film as well as direct with help from Howard. The series, from Imagine TV and 20th TV, was a pet project of Howard, who had a lot to do with its distinct visual style. In the final episode, Howard, playing himself, heard the Bluth TV family's pitch of their story and liked it for a movie.

Per Kristin from E! Online:

• ...Sources tell me exclusively that the major motion picture is budgeted at $15 million. (Translation: It will be awesome.)
  
  "Yes, it's a go," an Arrested castmember who asked not to be named tells me. "We're all very excited. And it will happen with or without the holdout."
  
  Wait a minute...The holdout? Yes, I'm also told exclusively by multiple sources that one of the show's original castmembers has not signed on to the movie...
  
  "Yeah, [he or she] might not do it," an actor says of this costar. "However, I do know that we will do the project with or without [him or her]."
  
  The good news is that aside from this actor (who, sorry, cannot be named), I'm told that all of the other main castmembers have committed to be a part of the big-screen project. And, yes, the show will go on.

Well, they might not be revealing names, but my money is on Michael Cera (aka George Michael Bluth). He kinda, sorta exploded onto the Hollywood scene between the time the show was cancelled and now and I'm guessing he either has too many irons in the fire to commit or he's just too important now for such things...

I really hope he signs on. Arrested Development was one of the very few shows out there on which every single character was indispensible.

No matter what happens, I'm excited. Yay!

Un(!)-Arrested Development

Yaaaay! I finally hearing good news about the long-talked-about-but-never-realized Arrested Development movie. They've been considering making a movie, you say? Yes, buzz of a potential movie began soon after the show's untimely demise at the hands of the evil Fox network, and now it's finally in the works. Yay!

From what I'm hearing, just about all the original principle actors have expressed a willingness, if not a total giddiness, to be in the movie, so I fully expect the feature film to live up to the series' standards. I'm hopeful they don't do too much re-capping and establishing for new viewers. I realize some exposition will be necessary, but I don't need the entire concept to be re-hashed for the pathetic masses who have never seen the show. It's a problem that's faced by many TV serieseses that make the leap to the big screen. Although I thoroughly enjoyed Joss Whedon's Serenity (which was borne of his fantabulous series Firefly, which not-so-coincidentally also met its untimely end at the hands of the evil Fox network), it included a lot of backstory that had already been established by the short-lived series. Not so much as to ruin the experience, but I would have liked to have seen the movie pick up where the series had left off (not that that would have really been possible, but a girl can dream).

Anyway, here's what I'm hearing about Arrested Development, the movie:

Jason Bateman, aka Micheal Bluth, told MSNBC's Kieth Olbermann that, "It's in the works. The grown-ups are trying to work out the numbers." Oh, Micheal. How I've missed you!

He also told the Times of London the movie version — slated for a 2009 release — will have a different feel than the TV series: "When it was on TV, if you missed one word, the whole third act could be blown for you. And TV is a different experience. You come home and you've got to finish a call so you miss the first ten minutes or you get snacky and you go to the fridge and you miss another two minutes, so it's a different experience to film."

Okay, I love Jason Bateman. I'm going to start using "get snacky" on a regular basis. Awesome.

Anyway, no telling yet who all will be on board, but I've heard in the past that Jeffrey Tambor and Jessica Walter, aka George Bluth Sr. and Lucille Bluth, have both said they would absolutely be on board with a movie. Buster and Tobias will more than likely be on board (and quite frankly, how could they have a movie without them?), and barring scheduling conflicts, I would certainly hope that Gob and Lindsay would be along as well. I think the real problem could come with George Micheal, played by the suddenly everywhere Micheal Cera, because, well, being everywhere really eats in to one's schedule, I would imagine... I'm hoping everyone can make it work. Yay!

Annnd, here are some season 1 clips to get you as giddy as I am about the forthcoming movie...



This clip cracks me up every time. Awesome.