The benchmark for most of TV’s most iconic and enduring animated series seems to be the eventual transition to movies, as we’ve seen with The Simpsons and South Park, but at long last, could Family Guy be far behind? Creator Seth MacFarlane hints it might happen sooner than we realize.

Take this one with a grain of salt for now, but where rumors and questions of a Family Guy movie have dogged the series (now working through its 14th season) for years, a recent fan question over Twitter (h/t TVLine) saw MacFarlane strongly intimating a movie in the works.

Granted, Family Guy has previously undertaken a number of near-feature-length projects, including the three-part Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, and Star Wars parodies Blue Harvest, Something, Something, Something Dark Side, and It’s A Trap!, all of which have also been edited down to regular episodes. Back in 2012, here’s what MacFarlane said of an actual film:

We do know what the ‘Family Guy’ movie will be. ‘The Simpsons’ movie, I thought, was hilarious, but the one criticism I would have is that it’s a story they probably could’ve done on TV. There could’ve been an episode that had that plotline. That’s the challenge with animation. You pretty much can do any story you want, so what is the reason for the movie? We finally hit on the answer to that question, and it will be something that would be impossible to do on TV.

Should MacFarlane’s words be taken at face value, there’s no guarantee of a theatrical release for a Family Guy movie, particularly given the decline in ratings over the last few years. Still, is Family Guy worth the silver screen treatment, cutaways and all? In the meantime, Season 14 will continue airing this coming Sunday.

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