There’s no doubt that Seth MacFarlane’s animated series Family Guy has a legacy surpassing most other television shows. With over 400 episodes produced, a cancelation beat, and 25 years of being on our screens, it’s basically an American institution at this point, for better or for worse (we think, on balance, for better, purely because of moments like these).
Given its popularity and the fact that the money-making machine owns it — sorry, beloved entertainment giant — Disney, it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that there was a live-action Family Guy series in the works. After all, the House of Mouse has had no problem sucking the Simpsons and Family Guy bloodstream dry since acquiring Fox in 2019 (how many Maggie spin-offs and Star Wars crossovers do we need?), so what’s one more spin-off, retelling, or live-action version to them? The people will watch it, after all.
This line of thinking convinced many people that this mock-up film poster, posted by JBuck Studios on Facebook alongside the caption “Netflix NEEDS to be stopped 😩,” was the real deal. However, if you’ve been desperate to see a live-action version of Family Guy come to life and thought your prayers had been answered (or if you think the idea of Craig Robinson playing Cleveland is something the universe needs), sadly, you’ve been duped. Read on to learn more about the live-action Family Guy movie that is not coming to Netflix or any other service near you.
Is there a live-action Family Guy movie coming to Netflix?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is also no, for various reasons. There isn’t even a project in development, so this “no” isn’t a nineties romcom-style refusal but a statement of fact. The first clue that marks this poster out as a fake is that if a live-action version of Family Guy were to happen, the series would undoubtedly be released on Disney Plus, thanks to the fact that they own Fox. As we said above, the only thing Disney loves more than making live-action versions of their classic IPs is the money that flows down from these new versions as adults chase nostalgia and kids watch children’s films.
The second clue is that it’s from a random Facebook page instead of an official Netflix or Family Guy account. Considering how many of us were raised not to believe everything we see on the internet, it’s shocking how many people fell for this prank.
With that said, the poster is pretty believable. We now know that it was AI-generated (of course, and not even the first AI-generated live-action Family Guy prank), but while a computer did the artwork, the casting decisions in this potential movie are pretty sweet. In a universe where this film is happening, Kevin James would play Peter Griffin, Laura Linney would be Lois, Ariel Winter would be the punching bag that is Meg, and Gaten Matarazzo would play dimwitted Chris. While those are all winners, the side characters are just as well picked: Bill Hader plays Quagmire, Craig Robinson is cast as Cleveland, and Patrick Warburton reprises his role as Joe, albeit with a fake chin. No voice actors are named for Stewie and Brian, but we think Rowan Atkinson and Kelsey Grammar would be great additions.
So, a well-thought-out hoax but a disappointment for plenty of commenters on the original Facebook post who got their hopes up. And now we, too, after doing our own fan cast above.
Who is JBuck Studios, the content creator behind the fake Family Guy movie posters?
JBuck Studios is a content creator named Jared Buckendahl. He operates under the name JBuck Studios on accounts across various platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook (where the poster was first uploaded). Although Buckendahl mostly does content like film reviews, Easter Egg hunts, and video essays on pop culture, he also occasionally posts comedic and prank clips. Hence, this is pretty much in keeping with his schtick. So, if you see a post coming from him at any point in the near future, think twice before sharing it!
