‘This Is Us’ Creator Talks a Possible Movie After Final Season: ‘I Say No to Nothing’

Will This Is Us fans have the chance to revisit the Pearsons after the beloved NBC show wraps up its sixth and final season on May 24, 2022? Showrunner Dan Fogelman isn’t ruling out the possibility of a possible This Is Us movie down the line, he said during NBC’s Scripted Press Day panel Friday, but there aren’t any plans as of now to take the Pearsons to the big screen.

“I say no to nothing,” Fogelman said when asked about a potential film option down the line, joking that he knows a “midlife crisis is right around the corner” for him when he realizes anything he does next will pale in comparison to the world he’s formed with This Is Us. Fogelman added he wouldn’t know what exactly the movie would entail or how many members would be available out of the star-studded cast, which includes Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson and Chris Sullivan.

As Fogelman fielded the question about a possible movie, he revealed that the president of NBC was definitely on board, texting him at that minute simply, “Yes to the movie!” Wrapping up the detailed and rich world of This Is Us after six seasons will be hard, the cast agreed, but Fogelman said that with so much of the past, present and future explored throughout the show, the writers had begun to “run out of real estate” because of how “exactly planned” the story was to be told over six seasons from the start.

Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth Pearson, “felt in such good hands” with Fogelman that she and the rest of the cast would be able to tell an “incredible” story, “stick to that roadmap and exit while it’s still good – just to be blunt,” she said, adding, “It’s not the worst thing if people want more of something we felt that we told in the best possible way that we could.”

Moving forward in the season, the biggest mystery that looms is what it was that led to the divorce of Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Toby (Chris Sullivan). “Divorce is something that happens almost as frequently as it doesn’t, and it hasn’t happened on this show,” Fogelman said of taking the characters’ relationship this direction as the show comes to an end. 

With the show’s overarching belief being that “inherently there is a decency” to the human experience, the creator said viewers will see how this divorce can be both ugly and “in its own way beautiful,” teasing that the writers “have some really big stuff for [Kate and Toby] coming up.” Sterling K. Brown, who plays Randall Pearson, chimed in of the relationship storyline to come, “The s- they got coming, this s- hits different.” This Is Us returns Feb. 22 with all-new episodes airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.