As jam-packed as Arrested Development‘s fourth season was with new celebrity cameos and old familiar faces, there was one popular star that didn’t make the cut. Contrary to older reports, Peter Serafinowicz did not appear in any of the new episodes.

However, Mitch Hurwitz, who worked with Serafinowicz on Running Wilde, hasn’t forgotten about the Brit comedian. Instead, he reveals that he’s “saved” Serafinowicz for the movie. Hit the jump to hear what he had to say.

Around 2011, Serafinowicz and Hurwitz told press that the latter had written the former into the Arrested Development movie. (This was back before Arrested Development‘s fourth season was a done deal.) But Serafinowicz failed to appear in the new season, so the Empire Podcast sat down with Hurwitz and asked him why.

The casting report “was absolutely true at the time,” Hurwitz clarified. “I’ve saved his part for the movie. I love Peter. He’s so funny.” But first, the film has to get greenlit. “[The movie] is not definite because it’s not my decision,” Hurwitz said. “It would be like me saying, ‘I’m definitely going to make a James Bond sequel.’ I may want to, but other people get to weigh in on that.”

Still, Hurwitz remained optimistic. “I definitely have a plan to in my own brain. And I know the cast is game. And I think Netflix would probably be game to doing it. But Fox owns it, so it’s kind of their call. But hopefully, they’ll decide [to do it].” He’s so eager to make the movie made that he’s even willing to make some sacrifices. “Notice how I’m not making a joke at their expense right now? That’s why,” he laughed.

Fun as it would be to Serafinowicz yukking it up with the Bluths, though, fans are likely more concerned at this point about whether Hurwitz can actually wrangle the main cast together than they are about what other famous people he can get on board. Much of Season 4 was filmed in front of a green screen because scheduling was such a major issue for the actors, at the expense of some of the cast’s famous chemistry. Hurwitz believes that making a movie will help alleviate some of those troubles.

One of the reasons I want to do a movie next is because we’ve got to have all the characters together. By the nature of the story, and by the fact that the actors have other gigs, we had to do this separated anthology idea, but from here on in, the family comes together, and that really was always the idea, that there’s this murder that takes place, there’s a trial, and the family who’s just said ‘The hell with you!’ to everybody has got to come back together – even though the joke of the series has always been Michael has to come back… now he’s got to come back.

Listen to the full podcast below: