Lisa McGee, the creator of Derry Girls, first floated the possibility of transforming the hit TV comedy into a feature film while the show was still running. Early on, she admitted that she wasn’t sure whether a film version would work.

 Over time, though, the idea “bubbled around” in her head: she began to sketch out vague conceptions and to imagine what a film could look like, particularly after the third season.

The cast also seemed open to it. Lisa has said that the characters, actors, and creative team would “like to do it,” making a film their “long‑term plan.”

However, despite enthusiasm, the film has remained unrealised. Several reasons for that emerged over time – from practical obstacles like scheduling, safety, and COVID delays, to narrative questions about whether a movie would serve the characters, or whether the story had already reached its natural conclusion.

One major complicating factor was timing. As Derry Girls progressed, season 3 was delayed due to the COVID‑19 pandemic. Filming had to be postponed, logistics became more complex, and priorities shifted.

McGee emphasised that the show is “quite complicated to film in these circumstances” and that creating a high‑quality production under pandemic conditions raises many challenges. Because of this, even as the film idea remained under consideration, it could not be fast‑tracked.

Another concern was narrative closure: whether a film could add anything meaningful beyond what the show had already done. McGee has noted that with three seasons, she feels the show “took the characters exactly where [she] wanted to take them.”

 This sense of completeness carries weight — if the film doesn’t deepen, extend, or resolve something new, there is risk it might feel redundant or even weaken how the series is remembered. Some of the cast have expressed similar reservations, at least implicitly.

Further, although the idea started to form, McGee has said she hasn’t written a film script. It remains a half‑formed plan in many respects.

 That means many questions are still unanswered: when it would be set, how it would balance tone, which narrative arcs would be explored, how much time would have passed, and whether all cast would return. All these creative and logistical concerns delay progress.

There is also the factor of focus. When the show was active, resources, writing, filming schedule, and promotional energy were tied to the series itself. McGee needed to finish season 3, to give the show a satisfying conclusion. Only after the show’s end could she more seriously consider a film version.

Season 3 was always designed, McGee has said, to be the final regular run. With that in mind, any film would be post‑series, potentially years later, meaning both cast and creators would have moved on to other projects. Scheduling all that is nontrivial.

Perhaps subtly more important, McGee has suggested that one needs to know which stories need telling. Some material was left on the cutting room floor during the series — episodes or plotlines that didn’t quite make it due to pacing, tone, or because they didn’t find their emotional core.

 These unused storylines show there is more material that could be drawn upon, but that doesn’t automatically translate into a film script that works: some storylines are episodic, others are funny moments rather than large arcs. Combining them into a feature demands cohesion.

Given all that, while the dream of a Derry Girls movie remains alive, its status is uncertain. McGee has never definitively committed to making it, always speaking in terms of possibility: “You never know what will happen,” “long‑term plan,” “if it works.” The show’s creator is cautious, wanting to protect the integrity of what’s already been achieved.

Fans are eager. Many have expressed hope and asked for more — through social media, interviews, and panels — that the characters’ stories might continue in a film.

The cast, likewise, seems open in interviews to revisiting the world, seeing what new chaos the girls might bring, perhaps with them a little older, perhaps dealing with changes in Derry and beyond.

What might a film look like, should it happen? It could follow life after the series’ finale, revisiting Erin, Michelle, Orla, Clare, and James perhaps in their later teens or young adulthood.

It could show how the peace process impacted their lives, or explore the next stage of growing up, schooling, relationships, maybe the question of where the characters live as political and social changes ripple.

It could lean into nostalgia, historical context, humor, and the bittersweet‑ness of leaving adolescence behind. But establishing a tone that balances humor, political backdrop, emotional growth, and fan expectations is tricky; getting this mix right is critical to whether the idea succeeds or not.

In conclusion, the Derry Girls film idea “bubbled around” as a hopeful possibility more than a formal plan. The creator’s initial hesitations, the sense of narrative completeness the show achieved, pandemic delays, logistical challenges, and lack of a script have all combined to keep it from progressing.

But because the desire remains — from McGee, from the cast, and from fans — it cannot be ruled out. Whether it will ever be realised remains to be seen, but for now, it exists as a promise more than a product.