'Community' Star Joel McHale Reveals Why There's a 'Better Chance' of the Movie Eventually Happening (Exclusive)

During the early days of the pandemic last spring and just weeks into lockdown, the adored cast of creator Dan Harmon's Community sat down for a virtual table read benefitting coronavirus relief efforts. While reading for one of the show's funniest episodes, the stars agreed to fulfill fans' dreams of the popular series adage "six seasons and a movie" if Harmon would write the feature-length escape. In keeping with that shared hope, actor Joel McHale tells PopCulture.com exclusively that there's a better chance now than there was before of the movie finally happening — though it is not in production right now.

"So, if you had asked me a year ago, I would have lied to you and said, 'Oh, maybe.' But in the back of my mind, I was like, 'I don't know how that's going to happen.' But I wasn't going to ever say no," McHale told PopCulture from Atlanta via telephone. "But I will say after the table read we did last — boy, it's almost a year ago, April or May — that was the first time when I was like, 'Oh, I think this might happen.' And Donald [Glover] said in the interview, he would do it, and it just comes down to coming up with $100 million. […] Because I could use $100 million, and then we could make it."

McHale adds it all boils down to Harmon at the end of the day. "Dan cryptically said on the internet, 'Stay tuned' and so, when you hear the guy that invented it, the guy that created the show say that, [...] as opposed to a bonehead like me going, like, 'It's happening?'" he said. "He's way more trustworthy than I am on that stuff."

The actor, who played Jeff Winger on the sitcom from 2009 to 2015, reiterates, despite his admission, "it's not happening now." But that doesn't mean there isn't a future for it as he goes on to share. "I'd say there's a better chance than there was. How about that?" he said. "I mean, nobody thought there was going to be electric surfboards, and then all of a sudden, go to any beach and now you see electric surfboards everywhere. So, it happens."

While PopCulture looks for some very generous donations to help get the Community movie up and running, McHale is currently lending his humor (and stomach) to Casey's latest campaign promoting their garlicky, cheesy breadsticks made from freshly baked dough prepared daily in their more than 2,200 stores with real whole milk mozzarella cheese. Admitting he teamed up with them for the sheer fact that he loves pizza, cheese, cheese and more cheese, McHale shares his love for Casey's sparked a physical reaction he could just no longer deny.

"My dad's from Chicago and I have 27 first cousins, so they're spread out all over the Midwest. Casey's is a thing that it's everywhere, and it's really good and it's made from scratch, and that does not happen all the time. It was a no-brainer," he said of his partnership with the brand. "I began salivating, so I can only tell from those sorts of physical things happening that I should probably partner with them."

Casey's cheesy breadsticks come in an eight-stick order along with marinara or cheese dipping sauce. As the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country, Casey's team members receive specific training on dough preparation and the special recipe to deliver the perfect pairing to Casey's famous pizza. Guests can take a bite for a promotional price of $3.99 for an order of cheesy breadsticks through May 31.