Warner Bros. is developing an animated Rick and Morty feature film, with the show’s supervising director Jacob Hair in talks to take the helm — a project that co-creator Dan Harmon has now publicly confirmed, ending years of speculation about whether the franchise would ever reach the big screen.
Plot details remain under wraps, and the film sits in early development. Hair has directed the series since joining in Season 4 in 2019 and has steered some of the show’s most celebrated episodes, including fan favorites “The Vat of Acid Episode,” “Rickmurai Jack,” “Night Family,” “Unmortricken,” and “Valkyrick.”
Harmon confirmed the project in an interview ahead of Season 9’s premiere, offering pointed praise for the choice of director. “Jacob Hair is the director. I mean, we didn’t shop around. He is an absolute — to say rock star is honestly feels like trivializing it, because that implies some kind of flash in the pan, kind of exciting. Jacob has it, came onto our team. It was like adding a pillar to it,” Harmon said. Showrunner Scott Marder echoed that view, saying that if Season 9 lands well with audiences, Hair is “responsible for that” given his supervising director duties.
The feature has been discussed for years. Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that his vision was straightforward: “just take a Rick and Morty adventure, and spend a bunch of extra money on it and make it 90 minutes long — 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.” He also revealed that director Zack Snyder had offered to use his industry clout to help move the project forward, and Snyder later appeared as a cameo in the show’s eighth season.
Rick and Morty centers on genius, alcoholic mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his anxious grandson Morty Smith as they split time between suburban family life and dimension-hopping adventures across an infinite multiverse. Co-creator Justin Roiland, who originally voiced both lead characters, was cut by Adult Swim in early 2023 following felony domestic abuse charges that were later dismissed, with Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden since taking over the roles.
Hair also brings experience beyond the show, having worked on Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. The series launches its ninth season Sunday and has been renewed through Season 12, with a spinoff, President Curtis, also set to debut soon on Adult Swim.
