Donald Glover’s Return Shapes ‘Community’ Movie Location Shift to Atlanta.
Series creator Dan Harmon revealed that Donald Glover played a pivotal role in determining the filming location for the much-anticipated “Community” movie.
The cherished NBC sitcom, “Community,” which inspired the hashtag #SixSeasonsandaMovie, is finally set to return with an upcoming Peacock film that has been in the works for several years. Despite the initial cast announcement omitting original cast members Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown (excluding Chevy Chase, who departed the series before its final season), Harmon assured The Hollywood Reporter that Brown and Glover would be reprising their iconic roles.
Harmon hinted, “I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that the story would involve the gang getting back together.”
The film will be a heartwarming Greendale Community College reunion, with Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong, and Jim Rash all making a triumphant return.
Harmon recalled that before the WGA and SAG strikes, the Los Angeles-based production of “Community” would temporarily shift to Atlanta to accommodate Glover’s other commitments. The multitalented creator, known for “Atlanta,” is also immersed in projects like the Prime Video series “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and the “Star Wars” film installment “Lando.”
“Donald was stoked about it,” Harmon enthused.
With the SAG strike ongoing, Harmon expressed concern, stating, “By the time we can re-coordinate, what are the odds that everyone’s schedule is going to align once again?”
He continued, emphasizing the importance of the cast’s on-screen chemistry, “The thing that’s going to matter most to me as an audience member or to anybody who loved that show is seeing those people see each other. And they still love each other, and it’s not going to feel the same if you’re shooting them separately at different months in different locations.”
Harmon previously described the fan base’s enduring dedication to seeing a “Community” movie as a form of “psychological torture” due to the stop-and-start nature of the film’s production.
He lamented, “The fan that Instagrams every day about ‘Community,’ how can you tell them, ‘Yes, it’s going to happen, but it may be between one and eight years from now’ — which is how the industry works, especially when you factor in pandemics and whatnot. From a fan’s perspective, it feels like psychological torture to keep looking into the backseat of a station wagon and saying, ‘Who wants McDonald’s?’ And to keep driving down the freeway. I don’t want to be guilty of causing that sensation. It just takes so long sometimes.”