Doing press for “Hancock,” in the U.K., Jason Bateman has been telling the British press that the “Arrested Development” movie is trucking along nicely. According to the London Times Online, “a big-screen version of Arrested Development is planned for next year.”
“When it was on TV, if you missed one word the whole third act could be blown for you. And TV is a different experience. You come home and you’ve got to finish a call so you miss the first ten minutes or you get snacky and you go to the fridge and you miss another two minutes, so it’s a different experience to film.”
We adore Bateman and the show, but the ‘AD,’ star has been talking out his ass on this project for a long time now.First announced in December of last year, Bateman has claimed that all the cast are on board and aware of the project, but in March, ‘Development’ stars Michael Cera and David Cross hadn’t heard word one about it.
Then Alia Shakat (Maeby Funke) revealed to Radar Magazine in May that Bateman was basically making it all up drum up interest in the project. “Jason [Bateman], when he was doing all the Juno press, he basically just talked up [Arrested Development] the movie. He got the publicity going before anything was real.”
Clearly, it worked as it got the ball rolling, as creator Mitch Hurtwitz and Ron Howard are onboard (Howard supposedly as the director according to Shakat), but Bateman will basically tell anyone who will listen that there’s going to be a movie. Next week he’ll be telling bums on Sunset that it’s a 3D Imax movie.
What Bateman probably means is next year, someone will actively get around to writing a script. Either way, don’t get too excited and or believe it when you see it. If they do ever get this thing off the ground, please find some way to include Charlize Theron in the movie. Her endearingly cute and mentally challenged British character Rita cracked us up, revealed a range we didn’t know she had and instantly made us a fan. Sexual relations!