Ricky Gervais to film David Brent movie 'Life On The Road'
Ricky Gervais is to star in a movie focusing on his hit The Office character, David Brent.
Due to go into production next year, Life On The Road will follow Brent, now a travelling salesman, up and down the UK as he attempts to fulfill his dream of becoming a rock star.
Mooted in March as a potential new television series, the movie is currently in development with BBC Films.
They explain: "We find out what Brent is doing now and what's happened in the last 15 years since his redundancy from his beloved Wernham Hogg. He's a sales rep now, selling cleaning products up and down the country, but has never really given up on his dream of being a rock star.
"Brent is followed on his self-financed UK tour. He thinks it'll be like 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."
One of the most successful British comedy titles of all time, the original mock-documentary series The Office ran for just 14 episodes on BBC Two, from 2001 to 2003, spoofing a spate of fly-on-the-wall documentary series which were popular on British television at the time.
The comedy series has since been sold to more than 100 countries worldwide with remakes in eight, including a hugely successful and long-running American adaptation. It was created, written and directed by Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
Ricky Gervais has resurrected the character of Brent on a number of occasions in recent years. In 2013 he created the 'self-penned' political reggae track Equality Street for Comic Relief, and then went on to make a series of 'self help' YouTube videos called Learn Guitar With David Brent.
A series of live performances in which Gervais appeared in character as Brent, alongside his fictional band Foregone Conclusion, were well received earlier this year. In the early 1980s, Gervais had a brief real-life career as a pop star in new wave duo Seona Dancing.
Life On The Road will be shot on location in the UK. A release date has not yet been revealed.
Recent BBC Films productions include Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie and A Long Way Down.
Here is the video for David Brent's Equality Street:
Below is the music video for Seona Dancing single Bitter Heart: