It’s been speculated about so often that we’ve even started to see rumours about it on the back of cereal boxes but, after false alarms galore, Mitch Hurwitz has finally, officially, started work on the screenplay for the long-awaited Arrested Development movie.

Hurwitz, the creator of one of the greatest, most complex and downright barmy sitcoms of all time, will also direct the movie, which should see the continuing adventures of the deeply dysfunctional Bluth family.

The fact that the scripting stage has been announced indicates that the entire original cast has agreed to come back for the movie version, which had been a sticking point for Hurwitz, who had previously said that the movie wouldn’t happen unless the entire principal past – Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia De Rossi, Michael Cera, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, and David Cross – returned.

Previously, it had been reported that Cera, whose movie career has been hugely successful post-series, had been the only hold-out, but although nothing’s official, it would seem that he’s back on board now. And, frankly, that’s simply tremendous news.

Hurwitz will co-write the screenplay with James Vallely, who was co-executive producer on the TV show before it was cancelled after three increasingly brief seasons. Imagine, who produced the show and lent Hurwitz its big boss, Ron Howard, as narrator, will co-produce the movie, along with Fox Searchlight. Let’s hope that the film division of Fox treats Arrested Development better than their TV counterparts.