Dan Harmon’s cult sitcom Community spent its entire run on NBC – and later Yahoo – reinventing what a comedy series could be. With its intricate film parodies, high-concept episodes, and lovably heightened characters, it won devoted fans despite fairly meager viewing figures. But we’re now staring down the barrel of a paintball gun at a Community movie release date, and that’s very cool. Cool cool cool.
Community fans will be familiar with Abed’s rallying cry that the ideal run for the best TV series is to get “six seasons and a movie”. Well, after its six seasons, Community is heading to the big screen, with most of the original cast on board for one of the most exciting new movies coming our way in the near future. We’ve sneaked through the study room vents to bring you all the intel we have so far.
Community movie release date speculation
The Community movie should finally hit our screens in early 2025, with filming due to start in the summer of 2024.
Cameras were due to roll in 2023, but the 2023 Writers Strike and Actors Strike put a spanner in the works. The project stalled throughout the year and fans of the best comedy series feared that Abed’s promise would never come true. But, as Community has done so often – after all, it lost its showrunner and survived a cancelation too – it has risen from the ashes.
Joel McHale, who played slimy fake lawyer Jeff Winger in the show, told the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast that Community movie will film in summer 2024. With that in mind, a late 2024 release is feasible, but we would definitely expect to see the movie in 2025 if not. It’s happening!
Who is in the Community movie cast?
The original Community cast is on board for the movie, with the exception of Chevy Chase and the so-far unconfirmed Yvette Nicole Brown.
Namely, McHale is definitely returning (of course he is!) and has also confirmed the involvement of Ken Jeong too, in some capacity. Similarly, even with his new-found superstardom, Donald Glover will return too and explained as much in an interview with GQ when he said, “We’re supposed to be shooting it soon.” That should help to make up for his absence from season 6.
The only real name that fans can say for certain who won’t be returning in any form is Chevy Chase. The actor was dropped from the series in season 4 and has since criticized the production of the series and its creator Dan Harmon.
The expected Community cast list:
- Joel McHale as Jeff Winger
- Donald Glover as Troy Barnes
- Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry
- Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir
- Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett
- Alison Brie as Annie Edison
- Ken Jeong as Ben Chang
- Jim Rash as Dean Craig Pelton
What will happen in the Community movie?
We think the Community movie will follow the characters as they return to Greendale for a reunion, allowing them to explore how much time has passed since the show.
Harmon has avoided saying anything concrete about the plot of the Community movie so far, but a reunion would be the simplest mechanic to get all of the characters back together.
Of course, this is Community, and so we expect genre-bending shenanigans aplenty and some sort of completely unhinged concept. We imagine there will be at least a nod to the fame of the show’s paintball episodes, though they could always go full homage to the best war movies and lean into that idea.
Unpredictability was always one of the joys of Community, so we expect that to carry over into the movie. Fourth walls are made for breaking and genre conventions are made for tearing apart and reshaping into madness. It wouldn’t be Greendale otherwise.
Is there a Community movie trailer?
There’s no trailer for the Community movie yet because the movie hasn’t even begun filming.
When filming does begin, though, we can expect a bunch of first-look images to begin to drop showing the cast members in their old roles, and then a trailer won’t be too far away. In the meantime, why not rewatch some of the show’s most iconic moments? Go on, treat yourself.
Where can I watch the Community movie?
The Community movie will debut exclusively on the streaming service Peacock.
No details have been confirmed just yet as to whether there’ll also be a theatrical release for the movie, but for now, it’ll be just like the old days of Community, watching it on your TV from the comfort of your sofa.
That’s everything we know about the Community movie so far, and we’re quietly hoping it’ll become one of the best comedy movies of the year it finally arrives. For more sitcom faves, find out why Kelsey Grammer wanted to “kill” Frasier after Cheers.
For more, check out our guide to the best movies of all time, and if you want to see what Glover’s up to, see our guide to all the new Star Wars movies coming, including Lando.