I truly can’t believe it’s been 13 years since the premiere of a little animated series that took both the sci-fi and comedy worlds by storm. Rick and Morty, for eight seasons, has offered audiences out-there concepts, absolute absurdity, and surprisingly meaningful character moments. Ahead of its ninth season (of a proposed 400, I guess), series co-creator Dan Harmon has confirmed that 22-minute adventures aren’t enough for Sanchez and Smith. A feature film of Rick and Morty is on the way. Also exciting, the director of some of the best episodes will be directing the movie.
Harmon spoke to CinemaBlend about season nine, and there he dropped the dime about the film. A Rick and Morty movie had been a rumor for a bit, but now it’s definite. The writer-producer also shared that Jacob Hair, a veteran of the series, will direct the movie. Hair joined the show in season four where he directed three of that season’s most beloved episodes. Those were “The Old Man and the Seat,” “Rattlestar Ricklactica,” and “The Vat of Acid Episode.” Good stuff there.
Of Hair, Harmon told CinemaBlend:
“I think when we started talking about a movie and could a movie happen and who would direct it, the first question was, ‘Can Jacob do it?’ Because that would be a dream, as opposed to going out and just getting somebody that did a great job on another animated thing. This is our guy, who has done some of the most amazing work on the show. It’s like the director version of Donald Glover in that I don’t know if there’s a limitation to what he can do; we haven’t found it yet”
Rick and Morty will have at least 12 seasons, or at least that’s as many as Adult Swim has greenlit so far. While its zeitgeist-strangling cultural impact has waned in the last couple of years, it remains a thoroughly entertaining show with terrific science fiction chops. We can only hope the movie brings the foul-mouthed grandpa and grandson back to former glory.
Rick and Morty will premiere season nine on May 24th.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.