Ricky Gervais is set to return to the role that made him a star. That's right, Gervais' David Brent character, of the Wernham Hogg paper company from the original version of "The Office," is set to have a feature film of his own in the near future.
"The Office" head honcho is now 15 years removed from Wernham Hogg, and the film will apparently follow Brent's progress since leaving the company, according to BBC. The film, titled "Life On the Road," will follow Brent as a traveling salesman who is also trying to finance a U.K. concert tour as he clings to his dreams of becoming a rock star.
"The Office" U.K. was the model for the American version of the show that lasted nine seasons on NBC and made Steve Carell a household name. Gervais was the executive producer on the hit U.S. comedy, and his David Brent character even had a small cameo a few years back as he bumps into Carell's Michael Scott. The U.K. version of the show ran on BBC Two from 2001-2003 and nabbed Gervais and company a bunch of prestigious awards.
The movie is going to be produced and shot in the United Kingdom, but its eyes are on worldwide distribution. The BBC film is set to go into production next year. Gervais did bring David Brent back briefly for a Comic Relief special in 2013, proving that his character is still the king of cringe TV even a decade later. Gervais has gone on to become a lucrative comic talent in recent years, appearing in many featured films as well as starring in, and writing, the HBO hits "Extras" and "Derek." Brent also appeared briefly in a series of spoof videos on YouTube that invited viewers and fans of Gervais' character to learn the guitar.
Now as a lowly door-to-door huckster trying to move cleaning products, David Brent and his band, "Foregone Conclusion," take their act on the road for some live appearances. The line between fiction and truth is blurred when it comes to Gervais' most popular character, and fans wouldn't have it any other way.
The film is going to follow a mockumentary style narrative that worked so well in both the U.K. and U.S. versions of the show. While Brent thinks that the director of the film is making a rockumentary similar to Martin Scorsese's film about the Rolling Stones, in reality the film is a "where are they now?" that catches up with Brent all these years later.
