Arrested Development - The Movie
Her? If you're not aware of the show (which - why? what is wrong with you?) this post will be of no interest to you at all. Rumors have been circulating for years (nearly immediately after the show was cancelled) of an Arrested Development movie, and until now there has been no clear evidence that such rumors were anything but that -- rumors. Until now.
Ron Howard officially turned this rumor into reality. Hopefully that means Michael Cera will stop being a prima donna and accept that he's owes his career to this show -- but I digress. As a fan, this little video nugget from the Academy Awards that made me very excited. But it also got me to thinking. Could an Arrested Development movie be anywhere as good as we want?
Translating a televsion series into a film successfully is rare - so rare that I can only think of one film that has done so devently (Firefly - and that's based on heresay, since I've never watched the series of the movie). Plenty of movies have translated fairly well to the small screen, but doing the opposite, with a show as keenly aware of its own "environment" of characters, setting and plot seems an impossible task.
The show ended with Michael and George Michael fleeing the family in the boat to Mexico (with George tagging along), Lucille heading to jail and the business most likely being shut down. There are numerous characters aside from family members that have to be in the film -- Oscar, Bluth Ann Veal, Steve Holt, Barry Zuckerkorn, Kitty Sanchez, Lucille Austero to name a few -- as well as various "themes" that have to be carried over (Gob's magic "career", Tobias's lack of awareness of his gayness, Lindsey's now realization that she's not technically related to anyone). But other things seem less obvious to me. For instance, can a film really have narration (as much as I love Ron Howard's narration, and how it propelled the subconscious of the series -- will that work in a movie?), wil the characters be as funny and well rounded in 2 hours?
The question remains how does such a brilliant show translate into a film successfully - and should even make a film that's directly related to the show or be a new thing altogether? What would the film need to do to be successful to you (as a fan)?
Comments for "Arrested Development - The Movie"
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I don't see why they cant just prop the series back up like Fox has done in the past. I don't think the format of the show could maintain its momentum for 90 minutes.
by Justin
∞ Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that anything they put on screen will be supremely disappointing and never add up to what the show was as a series. The major reason the show was successful was because it was on TV, could develop an intricate "reality", plod through characters and end with everyone wanting more. You couldn't ask for anything else.
Mitch Hurwitz can write amazingly well, and Ron Howard knows how to make a film -- I just can't see this being anything but disappointing. Unless of course they toss everything we know out the window.
by Paul
∞ Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
I'm a recent convert to AD, having only been watching on Hulu.com for the last few months. It's an amazing show, but I'd agree that making it into a movie wouldn't fly.
Serenity by the way was an amazing movie, and the series was equally as good. Serenity is what I think a space based sci-fi action movie should be.
by andy matthews
∞ Wednesday, May 13th, 2009