Community's Dan Harmon Says Donald Glover Was 'Almost' Right About The Movie

There's a popular quip among programmers, originally attributed to Bell Labs' Tom Cargill, which states that 90% of code accounts for 10% of development time, and the last 10% of code takes up the other 90% of development time. A similar rule applies in screenwriting, as "Community" creator Dan Harmon admitted when he addressed Donald Glover's claims that the script for the upcoming "Community" movie is complete.

"I can confirm Donald Glover's report that I told him the script was done, but I will also say Donald's sources are so unreliable because the script is always 'almost done,'" Harmon joked to Variety. Indeed, finishing a movie script is really only the first step. Just ask any screenwriter with a file name along the lines of moviescriptfinaldraft2FINAL_v4.pdf sitting on their computer.

So, with certain aspects of the "Community" movie still in flux, what is certain about it? "It's set on the campus of Greendale Community College. I'm super excited about it, and we're almost done," Harmon told Variety. 

The seed of the "Community" movie is the season 2 episode "Paradigms of Human Memory," a fake clip show in which, at one point, Abed ruins Jeff's lunch while imitating the namesake of his new favorite series, "The Cape." ("Show's gonna last three weeks!" Jeff roars. "Six seasons and a movie!" Abed replies in defiance.) "The Cape" itself was canceled after a single season in 2011, although one of its stars, Keith David, would later appear on "Community." David's involvement in "The Cape" was even referenced directly when he narrated the season 3 episode "Pillows and Blankets."

Fans of "Community," which itself was constantly at risk of cancellation, made this a rallying cry for the survival of the show. When NBC canceled "Community" after just five seasons, a revival by Yahoo! Screen allowed the show to complete its fabled sixth season. And in September 2022, a "Community" movie was officially announced as part of a partnership between Sony Pictures TV and NBC's streaming service, Peacock.

Donald Glover has said that Harmon pitched the "Community" movie as "a college reunion, but Abed [Danny Pudi's character] is like this big director now, and basically this is his magnum opus." Harmon didn't confirm these plot details to Variety, but it sounds like this movie might be his own magnum opus:

"I've been having kind of a nervous breakdown the last couple of months just by working on it, and that's a good thing because I'm having all kinds of flashbacks to 2009 [when 'Community' premiered]. It's gonna be awesome. I'm like, 'Why am I crying about these characters?'"

The "Community" movie doesn't yet have a release date. Hopefully, its premiere won't clash with the Soul Train Awards.