After years of combing through over 217 bits and pieces of information—evidence that there was going to be a new Pee-wee Herman movie, that Judd Apatow was involved, and that it was in play at Netflix—at last we’ve reached the moment where we find out what this is all supposed to mean. Netflix has announced that it’s picked up Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which Apatow will produce for the service with Broad City’s John Lee directing. The first Pee-wee film in more than 27 years, it will find Paul Reubens’ adorable, 62-year-old boy Pee-wee having a “fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger,” which then inspires him to take “his first-ever holiday” (since that cross-country trek in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure didn’t really count).
For Netflix, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday represents another big get in both the movie and man-child department, after it previously picked up four new Adam Sandler movies—a slate that’s solidified the streaming service as a natural home for arrested development, along with Arrested Development. And for Reubens and Apatow, it’s the culmination of four years of planning for a big-screen return for Pee-wee, who will now skip theaters and go straight to Netflix instead. In a statement, Pee-wee said, “I meant to do that.”