Rick and Morty: Dan Harmon Going for "Indiana Jones" Vibe with Movie
· BCPosted in: Adult Swim, Movies, TV | Tagged: rick and morty
Rick and Morty: Dan Harmon Going for "Indiana Jones" Vibe with Movie
Cartoon Network/Adult Swim's Michael Ouweleen offered some insight into the Rick and Morty film - including how Dan Harmon is approaching it.
Published Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:37:10 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary
- Rick and Morty movie is in development, with Dan Harmon aiming to capture that big Indiana Jones adventure feeling.
- Adult Swim boss Michael Ouweleen says the Rick and Morty film will welcome newcomers without deep show knowledge.
- Rick and Morty veteran Jacob Hair will direct the animated movie, earning strong praise from Harmon and Scott Marder.
- Voice stars Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden say Rick and Morty’s anything-goes universe gives the movie huge creative freedom.
Back in May, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder revealed that work was underway on an animated feature film adventure for the dimension-hopping duo – with Rick and Morty vet Jacob Hair tapped to direct. Of course, news like that begs a ton of follow-up questions. What's it going to be about? When can we expect it? Who will be joining the voice cast? What's the title? "Oh, God, no," was Cartoon Network/Adult Swim president Michael Ouweleen's response when asked that last question by Collider. But Ouweleen did have insights to share, even this early into development, like how new viewers "won't have to have studied 'Rick and Morty.'"
"These guys understand story and adventure better than anybody. What Dan would want to do with the 'Rick and Morty' movie is that he indelibly remembers going to see the Indiana Jones movies, so he's solving for that feeling of walking out. He's like, 'I want to replicate the feeling of walking out and hitting the sidewalk having just seen an Indiana Jones.' And you know he holds himself to a high bar, so that's the bar he's holding himself to on that thing," Ouweleen shared regarding Harmon's approach to the film.
Rick and Morty: The Movie? Yup…
"We saw the same leak, and we are therefore, now able to confirm that there is a movie in the works. Jacob Hair is, 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 like some kind of flash in the pan, kind of exciting. I mean, Jacob has it like came onto our team. It was like adding a pillar to it," Harmon shared during an interview with CinemaBlend regarding the movie news.
Marder pointed to the current season as proof of why Hair was the right choice, adding, "He's our supervising director. I mean, if [Season] 9 feels good to you, he's got a hand. He is responsible for that." Harmon continued, "I think when we started talking about a movie and could a movie happen and who would direct it, the first question was, 'Can Jacob do it?' Because that would be a dream, as opposed to going out and just getting somebody that did a great job on another animated thing. This is our guy, who has done some of the most amazing work on the show. It's like the director version of Donald Glover in that I don't know if there's a limitation to what he can do; we haven't found it yet." It isn't clear of the animated film would be a theatrical release or streaming.
Checking in during IGN Live, Ian Cardoni (the voice of Rick) and Harry Belden (the voice of Morty) shared what one of the biggest advantages the show has when it comes to a film: it can go epic, it can go game-changing – or it can go both. Belden explained why being in that position is creatively "freeing" for the film's writers, adding, "With the way the story is set up and the world and the universe of Rick and Morty, like you said, literally anything could happen. You can't think of a scenario where it's like, 'No, that actually wouldn't make sense cuz literally anything can happen.' So, creatively, it just brings so much freedom. You know, we can do whatever." Cardoni added, "I might be more scared if it was on us to come up with those stories, but we have an amazing writing staff. We just kind of go where they direct us."
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