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The new issue of Entertainment Weekly features Veronica Mars on the cover – seven years after the show ended, now just about a month away from its big screen debut. Inside, EW talks to showrunners from other cult faves, including Chuck‘s Josh Schwartz, about the future of their now-cancelled shows.
In the interview with Schwartz, Tim Stack gamely tries to get some sort of definitive answer about a possible movie, but the best he could get was vague answers about possible storylines and a “Never say never”. Here’s the full interview:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Do you guys ever toss around the idea of bringing Chuck back?
JOSH SCHWARTZ: It certainly came up after the Veronica Mars news surfaced and all of a sudden that being a viable thing. What it really comes down to is what is the story you want to tell. I know in the case ofVeronica Mars, they had a whole plan for that fourth season that they didn’t get. So the story was not complete. Whatever it is, you want the chance to tell that story.We were very fortunate with Chuck. As much as we always felt the end was coming, we did get five seasons of the show and an opportunity to tell a lot of story. So I think for myself and Chris Fedak, I think we’d really wanna make sure we had the right story to tell and felt like we were doing it because “Oh my God this Chuckmovie is going to be amazing!” That’s the test. Does it feel like you must do this because the audience is going to love this new take?
The thing that was so great was that you left off on a cliffhanger. So it would be easy to pick up where you ended.
You’re starting off with a question to answer certainly, and it’s a spy story so there’s always a new a mission, there’s always a new bad guy, there’s always a new need for Chuck to save the day.If there was a new iteration of Chuck, have you thought about what the next story would be?
We haven’t really. We ended the show. We felt really good about where we ended it. Some of the audience wanted a little more closure, but you always wanna leave something left to the imagination of the viewer. We haven’t yet sat down to say, “OK, if we were going to really do this, what would it be?” I think Zach Levi has some ideas and he’s an imaginative guy and a real storyteller.What is the possibility of this happening?
I mean, you’re talking me into it right now.Would you be interested in doing it?
Never say never. I’m very proud of the show. Obviously our fans were an incredible part of the show. We wouldn’t have been able to tell as much story as we did if it wasn’t for those fans eating all those sandwiches!Do you still get Chuck fans coming up to you?
I do. What’s funny for me is Chuck fans are the hardest to peg down. I can spot a Gossip Girl fan a mile away. But Chuck fans are very unpredictable bunch. It’s as much female as it is male and families and kids who watched it with their parents and parents who got to share that time with their kids. So it has a surprisingly diverse fanbase.If you could bring it back, what would be the ideal format? A web series? A movie?
I guess you gotta go movie, right? Although the Marvel/Netflix model is really interesting. Maybe we’d do itAvengers style where you follow Sarah and Chuck on a mission, you’ve got Casey on a mission, you’ve got Jeffster on tour, and then the final season is everyone gets together.And Ellie could be in Chicago?
Sure, you’ve got your medical story with Captain Awesome.You’d have to find a way to fit in Chuck’s mom, Linda Hamilton.
She’ll come swooping into the Chuck/Sarah storyline. And she can also then cross into the Ellie/Captain Awesome storyline to take care of the kids. The Jeffster would obviously be too racy for networks, so it would have to be Netflix or cable.So much sex, drugs, and rock and roll — or none at all.
Exactly. Sex, drugs, and keytar.
So in essence, yes, they could come up with stories to tell, and yes, fans are a diverse bunch who still ask him about the show, but, as we’ve been cautioning fans for a while, Schwartz doesn’t sound particularly interested in pursuing more Chuck right now. He is a pretty busy guy (at least two pilots in development plus a show currently on the air), and the Veronica Mars movie still needs to prove it can bring in cash at the box office, so maybe he’ll be more enthusiastic in a couple of months.
Never say never, Chucksters.
I like what he said about Veronica Mars being cancelled before they could finish telling their stories. It does make the difference between making a movie and feeling good about not making one.
Indeed. The Chuck team had 13 episodes to wrap up the series, and ended it how they wanted to end it. By contrast, the VM team was counting on a fourth season and had a whole new storyline planned out when they were canceled.
Never say never, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed though i agree with what Mel said. -_-
It’d be great to see CHUCK turn into a Netflix series. Maybe do 13 episode seasons so they don’t have to be big budget and allow the cast to pursue other opportunities as well. I’d sign up for Netflix again if that were to happen!
I believe for a Chuck “movie, etc.” to ever happen there has to be one very driven person to grab it and ram it thru. But, as it stands now there are a lot of chiefs (Warner Bros, Josh, Chris, Zac, and any other legal owners) which makes it hard to get anything done bam bam. Need a dictator with the legal power, and not a democracy. Trying to get all the chiefs together is like trying to get the US Congress to do anything. So all the chiefs give in to one person that can get it done. I want to see more Chuck and I do not want to wait years to get it going.
It will be up to Schwartz and Fedak to champion the idea, and right now they’re both pretty busy with other projects. They’re also waiting to see how the Veronica Mars movie does at the box office. If Warner Bros. has a good experience with VM, then the studio will be much more willing to pursue a Chuck movie.
Thanks Mel.
I don’t know if I should get real excited about the article or not…… the heck with it, I will. Hope springs eternal. I just hope that it isn’t 7 years like it was for the Veronica Mars movie. Although not a hug fan of Veronica Mars, I will watch that movie, hope that it is a big success, and just maybe, if it is, it will be easier to get a Chuck movie made. Keeping my fingers crossed.
TPTB are watching the reaction to and support of the Veronica Mars movie verrrrry closely. The possibility of a Chuck movie is pretty much tied to the success of a VM movie, so it’s in Chucksters’ best interests to support VM.
Thank you so much for writing this.
When I saw people on Twitter getting excited about this article, I began to wonder about the reading comprehension levels of Chuck fans.
I read the article the same way you did, but didn’t have the forum to publish my opinion.
It’s pretty clear that the “powers that be” aren’t spending much time thinking about continuing Chuck the many fans are.
IMO, it would be a BIG mistake for Chuck to be in the theaters. Yes, millions of Chucksters are out there but, WE saw Chuck at our homes. It’s a cult following. I believe it’ll be a HUGE success if they went with a Netflix thingy kind of way.
Josh says “I think we’d really wanna make sure we had the right story to tell ”
That shouldn’t be hard at all, Josh! LISTEN to the fans! Look at Fanfic, FB, Twitter and so on, Josh! Give what the FANS want, otherwise you’ll be on the path of S3! I’m sure you don’t want that debacle happening again, do you? And for goodness sake, little or better yet, no Jeffster! Chucksters are Charah, Team Bartowski/Woodcome fans!
“And for goodness sake, little or better yet, no Jeffster! Chucksters are Charah, Team Bartowski/Woodcome fans!”
That’s your opinion. Based on the comments and emails I get, and what I’ve heard from Vik, Scott, and composer/JEFFSTER producer Tim Jones, JEFFSTER has a pretty substantial fan base, probably bigger than Morgan’s. If they tried to do a movie without JEFFSTER, there would be a major outcry.
Ok, no Jeffster would probably be a stretch BUT, even with a Jeffster out cry, the main out cry is to bring CHUCK back. Chuck can continue without them. They’re not the main story line. C&S are and that’s the theme of the show….a love story between two extreme opposites. S1 and S2 has a lot of J&L. S3 came down substantially. S4 even further. S5 had a little more because it had 13 episodes to fit them in. S5 left them going to Germany. So, it’s seems like they have moved on with their careers. So why would they be in the movie or hopefully, a Netflix series with Jeffster? Morgan is Chuck’s BFF and part of Team Bartowski. It would make total sense for him to be in. Mama B, The Woodcombs and the rest of Team B as well. Maybe Jeffster can have their own series. A spinoff to accommodate their fans? Anythings possible.
I’m not saying JEFFSTER would be the main storyline. They never were. I’m saying there would be a fan outcry if they weren’t involved in the future of Chuck in some capacity.
“I’m not saying JEFFSTER would be the main storyline. They never were. I’m saying there would be a fan outcry if they weren’t involved in the future of Chuck in some capacity.”
Oh yes, I get that and I’m not saying that Jeffster would be the main storyline. I only said that to bring a point. What I am saying is that if they made Chuck without Jeffster, just for argument sake, and yes, they’ll be an out cry, Chuck would still be a hit regardless. I have no doubt that Jeffsters would watch.
TV shows tend not to do well on the big movie screen just look at Dukes of Hazard and Starsky and Hutch but to be fair they did not have the original cast members because they had gotten too old let’s hope we get a Chuck movie before they are all too old to play the characters anymore
A film would have to be able to stand alone from the series (be entertaining for people who have never seen Chuck before) and that would be challenging (but not impossible). I have actually wrote one screen play that I think would be able to stand alone from the series while still staying true to the series. However, I think the best route for a continuation is through Netflix
I agree Netflik movie would the way to go in my opinion
Josh was asked about the possibility of bringing Chuck back in some form, and his first prerequisite was how Veronica Mars was received. I think his Veronica Mars demand has been taken care of (from what the reports I have read say about its reception). If because of other commitments he cannot perform with Chuck he could at least convince WB, etc. that the concept works and get moving. Whatever the medium is this is the chance to get involved in the new concept as put forth by Veronica Mars brave soles. Right now Chuck’s fans are good for it but if they don’t see action when it could happen the Chuck fans will lose faith. I will contribute to the cause with needed resources if they decide to get moving.
The movie is getting buzz, yes, but you’ve been involved in the Chuck renewal campaigns, you know it all comes down to the bottom line. The VM movie needs to make a splash at the box office in order for Warner Bros. to even consider greenlighting a Chuck movie. Until then, neither Schwartz nor Fedak is going to say more than the vagaries above.
It will be interesting to see what TPTB consider box office success to be in regards to the VM movie. Do they just want a return on their own investment, or the total budget of the movie (which includes 5 million donated by fans).
It’s a limited release, so obviously we aren’t talking huge expectations. I think if they clear $15 million at the box office, the movie will be considered a success. Anything more (+ DVD sales) would be gravy.
I understand it always comes down to the bottom line. In all the business plans I have either reviewed or put together myself I have yet to see one that didn’t show a bottom line surplus in the end. Did not see any showing a negative bottom line in the end. Not too many funds available for money losing propositions (with some exceptions). I would think WB knows bottom lines in the proposal stage are not as reliable as history. I think VM will provide good history to work off of, and Chuck’s solid fan base has been proven around the world. The powers that be should have that to work with for their business analysis. Which is a lot more reliable than someone’s positive bottom line in their business plan. At some point you always decide to fund based on your feelings for the project. Someone just has to jump in.
Someone did jump in – the Veronica Mars team. Now we (and Hollywood and fans around the world) wait to see if they sink or swim.
I am not crazy about having Chucks fate resting on the success of the Veronica Mars movie unless your a hard core fan who would go see in the theater most would wait until it’s on DVD or on Netflix The Firefly movie didn’t do well at box office but was a better success once it was released on DVD
It’s not the ideal scenario, but someone has to blaze the trail. I’m going to do my best to see the VM movie in theaters (yeah, I’ve been a Marshmallow since Day 1), but the closest screening is about 2 hours from where I live.
I think that it’s nice of EW to ask Schwarz the question in the first place. I would like for them to ask Fedak as well. We know that Zack wants to do it and we know that fan’s want it. I honestly don’t have the same enthusiasm for any of Schwarz’s other properties that way I do for Chuck. I love Chuck, I would take anything Chuck. Hell, I would be through the roof just for some Chuck Novels. Chuck something. Being realistic it doesn’t sound like Josh is all the inspired right now, I mean they just ended just recently in his eyes but he’s also thinking too linear. They could do three 90 minute chuck episodes a year like Sherlock, they could do 13 episode seasons on Netflix, they could keep it going, that’s what you do when you have a product that people demand. I know that I would pay for it. I just want more and I will wait as long as I have to, to get it.
This…… I had posted something in the forum about getting into a netflix type scenario….do 13-15 episodes a season three story ARC’s and a conclusion take the other netflix series model and do a whole season release, or like anger management on FX they to also do many episodes of production in a short period. A two hour episode would be a good primer.
Shows like Chuck, Stargate SG1, BSG, The Wire don’t come along very often….
Mel- When I said “Someone just has to jump in” I was referring to someone on the Chuck team (if the early stages of the VM history proves out). You are right when you say the Veronica Mars team did jump in. Without having the prior positive history I am talking about. Pretty brave. And, they appear to be the first to do it. I just don’t want the Chuck team to wait around for proof after proof that the bottom line will be positive. That could take years in the movie business. I would hope they see enough in the first few months after release that they could say “OK let’s go for it” and be one of the next ones to follow VM instead of waiting for more proof that their bottom line will be good. Someone on Chuck’s team has to want to do it bad enough to convince the rest of the team it is worth the risk that is inherent in all movie projects, and more so in this new type of approach. As you implied- it does not appear either Schwartz or Fedak are going to jump out on any limbs right now. But someone will have to if Chuck fans are to receive what I believe they deserve.
I Hope a Chuck Movie Is Made I Would Love That. 🙂 Mel Am So Happy you And Gray Jones Got To Meet 🙂
I still watch the show and so do my kids. We just love the Characters, and the show has some of everything. Comedy action( with big explosions) and even the love story. We miss the show and really hope something comes out of this. I would really love to see the series continue in some way on Netflix and I think you can’t leave out any part of it. If you take away “Jeffster and the whole wacky Buy More clan with Big Mike it just isn’t the same. Honestly this is definitely a case of the sum of the parts equalling the whole and I think you run a bigger risk if any part is removed. If you cant get it all I think it’s better to just rewatch the series on DVD. Long live Chuck and “Buy-Moria”