First, Will Arnett reconfirmed his involvement with the film, which was under some scrutiny after Hale mentioned that cast members' new children might present some scheduling conflicts (Arnett just had a baby with Amy Poehler, as was mandated by a Jennifer Hudson-obsessed Creator).

"Arrested Development has such a special place in my heart,” he tells EW.com, “and I can't wait to strap that fake hand back on and fight the seal once and for all—wait, which guy did I play?...It’ll be fun to get back together with everybody and work on it. It’s been so long now, we almost have to do it. It’s like we have to finish the joke.” What details can he spill about the project? “I’m sure I’m not speaking out of turn when I say Christmas Day ’09, 12:01 a.m. is the first show,” he shares. “We’re opening on—this is unprecedented—13,000 screens. This is going to be mind-blowing. We start shooting this summer. It’s going to be directed by Obama’s Secretary of the Treasury, I’m not sure how [series creator] Mitch Hurwitz feels about that."

Also, thanks to commenter bronx51, who pointed out that Alia Shawkat did in fact confirm her AD involvement to a long-ago, pre-zombified Radar (ironically, the news flew under ours). And what an eerily prescient interview it was!

I got a call from Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator, and he said "so have you heard about this movie we're supposedly doing?" and I said yes. And he said he was in and it was great. And 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. So Mitch talked to Ron Howard, who said he would direct it, and he's down. So I think Mitch was like, "I guess I'll write it then," and that's what I think he's doing now. And yes, I'm involved. I think everyone is.

[...]

Who do you see most often from the cast?
Sadly, I don't see everyone that often. I see Michael Cera every now and again, but he's famous now so he doesn't want to talk to me.

Cera, you're making a huge mistake. What will it take before you reconsider? Gross points? Henry Winkler's participation? A lifetime supply of American Apparel hoodies?

• 'Arrested Development' movie: Will Arnett is ready to go [EW]

• Arrested Movie Developing: Maeby [Radar]

· Warners has hired "rookie" screenwriter Brad Ingelsby to adapt DC's graphic novel Sleeper for the screen. Tom Cruise has "shown interest" in the material in the only way he knows how—inviting the rough first draft to dinner at his home, then strapping it to the back of his motorcycle for the ride of a lifetime. [THR]
· The Partridge Family are getting back on the bus, with a new pilot greenlit by—you guessed it—NBC. Casting agents are on the lookout for a "smart-alecky redheaded teen with glimmers of deep psychological damage way down the line." [THR]

boomp3.com


Arrested Development star Will Arnett played the unscripted role of "Peeping Tom" on the set of When In Rome when he watched his co-stars (and real life couple) Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard get a little cozy in-between takes. The couple paused for a moment and asked why Arnett was watching. Arnett pondered for a moment and then explained that his wife is pregnant and that this is the closet he's going to get to some hot action for a while. Shepard said that it was cool with him if Arnett watched, yet Bell seemed a bit hesitant. After a brief discussion of guidelines and rules, Arnett was officially allowed to watch. However, it quickly came to an end after Arnett shouted "With Club Sauce!" for the sixteenth time in the span of three minutes.

[Photo Credit: Bauer-Griffin]