BATEMAN: Work On ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Film To Begin In 2012!

Fans of US sitcom ‘Arrested Development‘ have been given some hope (again) that the long-awaited film of the series is still going to happen!

 

In an interview with Empire magazine, Jason Bateman, who plays Michael in the series’ said:

“..my guess would be that we will shoot it in the middle of next year.”
 

While he was somewhat non-committal, he obviously wants it to happen, as it seems does most of the cast and crew. Will Arnett (Gob in the show) appeared with Will Ferrell at a university campus in America some time ago (I can’t find the clip now hence the vagueness) and was quizzed by students about the film. Not only did he say he wanted to do it, Ferrell seemed pretty keen to get involved despite not appearing in any of the original three seasons!

Gob (Arnett) with Franklin, his somewhat controversial glove puppet.

‘Arrested Development‘ lasted for three seasons, and chronicled the lives of the Bluth family, a once wealthy, now disgraced (George Bluth Sr – Jeffrey Tambor – is imprisoned in the first episode) troupe of mainly awful characters, as Michael tries to rebuild the family business and reputation.

While rumours of the film happening, the script being developed and so forth, have been around for years, with no concrete release date ever being set, Bateman’s prediction of it shooting next year will fan the flames of hope for the shows many fans.

Despite the critical acclaim for ‘Arrested Development‘ (it won many well deserved awards), it simply never pulled in the viewing figures, and in 2006 Fox cancelled the show. In the final season, there are references to the inevitable cancellation, as well as hilarious japes about Fox’s reasons for cancelling, and hints at other networks to pick the show up (subsequently none did). Since it’s cancellation it has, however, gathered a huge loyal fan base and become a cult hit.

As a fan I have been eagerly reading every tit-bit of info about this possible film for a few years, and while the idea does it excite me I do have my concerns. For one, the show was so perfect I worry that in picking it up again after so long we might see the law of diminishing returns come in to play. Also, the shows own creator, Mitch Hurwitz, has said himself that he thinks they took the show as far as they could. The finale in season three is brilliant, but does leave plot some strands hanging, the question is whether we really want need see them tied up.
 

Excited? Tired of waiting? Think the now globally famous cast will all return to the show? Let us know!