‘The Office’ Spinoff Movie Starts Production Next Year
The Office, the critically acclaimed and popular series starring Steve Carell in the U.S., was based on the original The Office from the U.K., starring Ricky Gervais. Now, Ricky Gervais is returning to his lead character, David Brent, in a spinoff movie entitled Life on the Road.
According to the L.A. Times, Life on the Road takes place fifteen years after the end of the events on The Office. Ricky Gervais’ character, David Brent, has been working as a traveling salesman but hasn’t yet given up on his dream of becoming a rock star. In a quest to fulfill that dream, Brent spends his time in The Office spinoff traveling with a documentary crew on a self-funded tour of the United Kingdom.
BBC Films describes the movie:
“He thinks it’ll be like [Martin] Scorsese filming the Rolling Stones, but it turns out to be a ‘Where Are They Now?’ documentary. He has to take a few weeks off work and cash in a couple of pensions, because the session musicians in the band are costing him more than he’s getting in ticket sales. Tragic.”
About the film being an actual sequel to The Office, Gervais backed off of that and tried to make himself exceptionally clear on his Twitter account:
Just to be clear, I am not making an “Office” movie. I’m doing a documentary film about David Brent trying to be rock star. Just Sayin ? — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) August 5, 2014
The Office spinoff film – not The Office sequel – will be shot exclusively in the U.K. and distributed by BBC Films. It hasn’t been ironed out yet whether the film will play in theaters or only on television.
Ricky Gervais created The Office with Stephen Merchant in 2001. The U.K. version of The Office only ran for two seasons (plus two Christmas specials) – but it did inspire remakes of the show in eight countries including France, Germany, Canada, Chili, Israel, Sweden, and of course, the United States, where The Office made Steve Carell a household name.
The U.K. version of The Office won a Golden Globe and three BAFTA’s, and the U.S. version won a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Since finishing his stint on The Office in 2003, Ricky Gervais has written and hosted a number of television shows and appeared in such films as For Your Consideration, Night at the Museum (and its sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian), Stardust, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World and The Muppets.
Gervais is currently starring in the third Night at the Museum film, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Work on The Office spinoff, Life on the Road begins in 2015.
Photo via hollywoodreporter.com]
