Rick and Morty is taking aim at the big screen.
Jacob Hair, who has directed episodes of the long-running Adult Swim series since 2019, is in talks to helm an animated feature version for Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Plot details have not yet been publicly shared for the film that is in early development.
Rick and Morty debuted in 2013, and the Emmy-winning series has ranked as basic cable’s most-watched comedy over the past several seasons. President Curtis, a spinoff series featuring voice actor Keith David in the titular role, is set to premiere soon from Adult Swim.
Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland co-created Rick and Morty, which centers on inventor Rick Sanchez and his universe-spanning adventures with teen grandson Morty. In early 2023, Adult Swim cut ties with Roiland following felony domestic abuse charges that were later dismissed. Up until that point, Roiland had voiced both titular characters, with the roles having since been recast.
Rick and Morty is set to launch its ninth season Sunday and has been renewed through season 12. Hair serves as supervising director of the show.
In 2023, Harmon told THR that he had been part of conversations with Warner Bros. executives about a Rick and Morty movie, and he recalled feeling optimistic.
“My philosophy would be to just take a Rick and Morty adventure, and spend a bunch of extra money on it and make it 90 minutes long,” Harmon said at the time. “Not to try to earn its feature status by virtue of canonical dramatic tone shifts or anything like that, but rather to just make it a super badass episode of Rick and Morty.”
Harmon also noted that filmmaker Zack Snyder had offered to help pull some strings to bring a feature version of Rick and Morty to life: “He was totally a super fan and was just like, ‘Is there any way I can help get that movie started by using my Snyder-ness?’” Snyder later played himself in a cameo during the eighth season of Rick and Morty.
The InSneider first reported on Hair’s involvement.
