Jeffrey Tambor On “Arrested Development” Movie: “It’s a Go.”

Last winter, Jeffrey Tambor, the actor who played the scheming patriarch in Fox’s brilliant, underwatched and now-cancelled Arrested Development appeared on The Ron & Fez Show on XM radio, saying that there was a “real push” to get a movie version of the TV series made. Then this summer, lead actor Jason Bateman also seemed to confirmed that the wheels were in motion for the a film version of Arrested. A hefty container of water was thrown on the fire last month when Michael Cera disavowed any knowledge of such a film, and expressed doubt that Arrested fans would even want to see an Arrested movie. 

Now from Collider comes the latest twist in the creation of the Arrested Development movie. Steve “Frosty” Weintraub spoke with Tambor at an event to promote Hellboy 2 and asked him if he was sick of people asking about the Arrested movie. Shockingly, Tambor responded as follows: 

Well no, because we’re doing it. We are going. It’s a go. I just actually this week talked to Mitch Hurwitz, so we’re doing it. 

Clearly taken aback by the positive response, Frosty pressed for details, as any Arrested fan would. After all, we’ve been through too much to have our hopes let down again. Was there a start-time? A script? Tambor, referring to Hurwitz, said:

No, but when the writer calls you, the director and the executive producer calls you, it’s a pretty good sign. 

Color me skeptical. Many things stand in the way of this movie getting made, the most significant of which seems to be getting the sprawling cast back together again, many of whom have continued on to impressive careers in TV and film. A small, dying, withered part of my soul still wants to see the gang reunited for one last redemptive chance at showing the whole movie world what a unique and fantastic phenomenon Arrested Development truly was, but until I hear something more solid, I really can’t risk being disappointed again. The constant threat (and subsequent reality) of cancellation back when the show was still on the air…That was already almost too much to bear.