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'Arrested Development' season 5 news update: Series 'very close' to being renewed; EP hints plans to start filming early 2017

Sheanne Aguila July 28, 2016 11:31 PM EST

Promotional image for \"Arrested Development\" | Facebook/ArrestedDevelopment

After several years of hiatus, hit comedy series "Arrested Development" is "very close" to returning for a fifth season on Netflix, executive producer Mitch Hurwitz recently confirmed.

"We're very close," Hurwitz said during Wednesday's TCA press tour panel for his other show "Lady Dynamite." He clarified that nothing is set in stone yet but he is looking forward to doing another season with the rest of the original cast. "It's the thing I'm really desperate to do," the EP continued. "We've got a lot of stories broken. We're ready to go. I'm so appreciative of the fans wanting more, I'd hate to tease them with information until we know it's going to happen... If it does happen, it looks like shooting would happen at the start of 2017."

Meanwhile, Hurwitz also expressed his plans on re-releasing season 4 in its entirety. He confirmed that a re-edit of the fragmented season 4 with 22 episodes is already completed, and it has a "totally different storytelling" than the 15-episode season previously aired in Netflix.
However, he stressed that the public can only view the re-edit if the streaming giant decides to greenlight a fifth season. "For the average person who didn't know anything about the show, it makes such a difference. A 36-minute episode vs. a 22-minute episode, even if you're watching them back-to-back, it just skips along... I hope somebody gets to see it!" he said (via Screen Crush).

Actor Tony Hale pointed out that the biggest obstacle in making season 5 possible would be the main actors' schedule. To name a few, Hale is on "Veep," Portia de Rossi currently stars in ABC's "Scandal" while Jeffrey Tambor is the lead actor on "Transparent."

"It's a lot of scheduling," Hale said in a Comic-Con panel. "A lot of people are doing different stuff and it's nine people to get together. I really want to see where the story continues."

Netflix has yet to officially renew "Arrested Development" for a fifth season.

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