Maybe I decided to do this story just because I couldn’t stop chuckling as I went through GQ’s slideshow. It’s absurd – Will Arnett should not crack me up this much. He plays basically the same over-confident douche mess in television show after movie after show after movie. And I buy it every time. Okay, not really, but if one of movies comes on television, I end up watching it and laughing guiltily. I love when he’s on 30 Rock too – I love when he goes homoerotic, and his banter with Alec Baldwin is better than Tina Fey’s (sorry Tina). Anyway, Will is reuniting with Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development, which was the series that pretty much made Will’s career. On AD, Arnett played Gob Bluth, the oldest Bluth. Gob was a narcissistic mess, and Arnett was brilliant. I love that Arnett is reuniting with Hurwitz, and I love that Arnett doesn’t think it’s a step down to go back to television. Here’s the short GQ piece:

Despite how it might sound, Will Arnett is not about to play another Will Arnett role. You know the type: the stunted, spoiled, filthy-rich dumb-ass. Gob Bluth on Arrested Development. Devon Banks on 30 Rock. Countless jerk-offs in countless movies. But Arnett is adamant that Steve Wilde, the man at the center of Fox’s Running Wilde, his new sitcom from Arrested creator Mitch Hurwitz, is different.

Steve, you see, is a stunted, spoiled, filthy-rich dumb-ass…with a heart. The scion of a ruthless oil baron, Steve throws decadent parties to give himself humanitarian awards and competes with his neighbor/arch-nemesis over who can buy the teensiest, priciest miniature Arabian horse.

But at his core, Steve is a sad-sack romantic, desperate to win back the hand of his childhood sweetheart, an always-saving-something environmentalist played by Felicity’s Keri Russell. And as far as Arnett is concerned, this constitutes a reach.

“I’m moving out of my comfort zone,” he says, “and right into my wheelhouse.”

There’s a fine line between repeating yourself and carving out a niche—and Arnett knows how to walk it. (As Hurwitz puts it: “Will is like a child who’s forced to act like a man wrapped in the body of a man who acts like a child.”) Arnett’s imbeciles resonate because they lampoon the distance between the stupidly rich and the rest of us, and that’s a very “now” subject.

Arnett, who’s married to Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler, grew up well-heeled in Toronto, hanging out with teenage Gob Bluths and Steve Wildes and getting himself thrown out of—sorry, “asked not to return” to—his elite private school. But he resists the idea that he’s mining anything for his art.

“Ultimately, maybe I’m just good at being a fool,” he says. “Maybe that’s just the sad reality. God, that’s so depressing. Thanks for ruining my life.”

[From GQ]

One of the things that kills me about Will is that I don’t understand how he didn’t end up wanting to be a traditional leading man – he’s handsome and tall and he’s got a great beanpole nerd-hotness that I could see for a straight dramatic actor. And yet, somehow, this handsome, rich Canadian ended up being Hollywood’s go-to douche comedic actor. Strange. Anyway… I’m now looking forward to this series. Do you think any of the Arrested Development people will make an appearance? Bateman? Jessica Walters? LIZA?!?

Photos courtesy of GQ online.

There have been rumors for some time that Michael Cera and/or Will Arnett are hesitant to get on board for an Arrested Development movie. Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development, may have revealed that Cera is the hold out by saying that Will Arnett is ready to go:

“I don’t want to talk about who is holding out right now because we might still work that out and I don’t want to pressure anyone through the press,” said Hurwitz. “Although I will say that Will Arnett is gung-ho, so there’s a big clue!”

[from Fancast]

So what you mean to say, Mitch, is that it’s Michael Cera’s fault.  Even if you sugared it up with that “I don’t want to pressure anyone” statement.  There is, of course, the off-chance that it’s someone else who’s refusing to sign, but it seems unlikely considering that Cera and Arnett are the only ones whose careers have taken off enough to be able to say “no.”  The movie wouldn’t even be a possibility without Jason Bateman, so he seems to be definitely in.

Another interesting part of Hurwitz’ interview with Fancast is his willingness to discuss the many options for the movie’s direction.  Unlike most producers and directors, who will just say “it’s in its development stage” (sorry for the bad pun), Hurwitz seems interested in sharing the process with his fans.  One possible avenue would be to do a “film within a film”:

There are, of course, other versions in mind. Although many episodes of the series famously ended with never-realized, “Next time on…” teasers, it’s possible that the film could become a “film within a film,” taking a cue from the epilogue of the finale, where Maebe Bluth pitches Ron Howard her life story, and Howard quips “I don’t see it as a series. Maybe a movie.”

“I’ve also been playing with the idea of doing a prequel for a while, which could be kind of interesting,” Hurwitz said.

[from Fancast]

Whatever he choses to do, and whether or not Michael Cera decides to do the film, it seems that the Bluths are coming to the big screen.  “It’s too much fun for us all,” says Hurwitz. “The fans have been so supportive and so sincere in their fondness for it. That’s really the big motivation to make the film.”

Photos from Bluthfamily.com