The Community Movie Plot Sounds Perfect

In honor of beloved NBC sitcom Community and its upcoming movie spinoff, let’s begin with some Remedial Chaos Theory. Without the release of a tepidly-received action comedy in 2005, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now.

That’s because if the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-starring film Mr. and Mrs. Smith didn’t premiere 20 years ago, then there wouldn’t be a TV version starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine today. And if there’s no 2024 Mr. and Mrs. Smith then we wouldn’t get a very honest and open Donald Glover on a press tour, eagerly answering every question about the Community movie that comes his way.

Truly, the Troy Barnes actor has been an open book when it comes to his involvement in the Community movie of late. Just last week he confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that he was “all in” on the film and even added that the script was done. Now, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Glover has upped the ante by providing the first bit of concrete details that we’ve received about the movie’s plot yet.

“[Community creator Dan Harmon] told me what he wanted, and I was like, ‘This sounds great,’ Glover told THR. “It’s a college reunion, but Abed [Danny Pudi’s character] is like this big director now, and basically this is his magnum opus. I’m like, ‘This sounds fucking tight.'”

That does indeed sound pretty fucking tight. While it’s fun to imagine Harmon concocting a scenario where all the Community characters have to return to attend Greendale Community College again (a la Jeff Winger needing a real law degree in the pilot), that doesn’t have quite the dramatic heft required for a movie adaptation. A college reunion feels both more logical and emotionally honest. After all, what is this film if not a reunion for its cast, crew, and fans?

Danny Pudi’s Abed Nadir becoming a big time movie director also rings true. Not only was Abed a pop culture junkie and meta hero on the show, but he’s actually “directed” some episodes of the original series in his own way already. This includes “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” (in which the gang visits Pierce at the hospital while Abed films) and “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux” (in which Abed shoots Dean Pelton’s attempts to lure famous grad Luis Guzman to the school for a commercial and captures the subsequent Apocalypse Now-level degeneracy).

If Community were really committed to the bit, Abed would only appear via voiceover in this film as he speaks up from behind the camera. But truthfully, Harmon and the show have always had a softer heart than given credit for. Big shot director or no, Abed will undoubtedly be there onscreen with the rest of his friends as they reminiscence about the good old days.

First announced by Sony Pictures TV and Peacock in September 2022, the Community movie does not yet have a release date. Hopefully, we’re only a few more Mr. and Mrs. Smith interviews away from getting one.