Even though he isn’t quite as well known in America as he is in the U.K.,Ricky Gervaisis one of the biggest names in comedy. Lately, he has had a good string of luck both as producer and actor with Netflix, having had multiple projects find a home there. As it turns out, Netflix seems to love him as well, because they have just closed another deal and it’s a big one.
Gervaistook to hisTwitterto make the announcement today that Netflix had bought the rights toDavid Brent: Life on the Road, which is based on his character from the original British version ofThe Office. He also noted that the film will be playing in select theaters in the U.K. come August.Gervaiswent on theOpie and Anthonyradio show to share the news with them, and he had some very kind words for Netflix. Here is what he had to say.
“This is exciting news and this is top secret so I’m gonna say it now.Netflixhave bought out the rest of the world again. So everyone’s gonna see it. Which is great for me because I’d rather 20 million people see it than half a million people see it in cinemas. Do you know what I mean? Because I want to do tours off the back of it. So for me it’s great.”
Back on April 7,Gervaisreleased a trailer for the upcoming mockumentary that will see his character fromThe Officegoing on the road to perform in a band. The brand of humor from the trailer is right in line with what fans have come to expect fromGervaisand more specifically what fans ofThe Officeknow and love about the character ofDavid Brent.Life On The Roadwill likely draw some inspiration from the YouTube videosGervisdid in which he would make instructional guitar videos asBrent.
Netflix has worked withGervaisseveral times in the past, most recently on the movieSpecial Correspondentswhich starredEric Bana. Though that wasn’t particularly well received, he also did his showDerekfor Netflix, which was nominated for an Emmy at one point. There is no word on how much Netflix paid for the rights toLife On The Road, but lately they have been dropping some serious money on exclusive movies, so odds areGervaisjust got a pretty decent payday.
The original BritishThe Officebecame a smash, cult TV hit after it was co-created byGervaisand his long time collaboratorStephen Merchant. The show found new life after theAmerican versiontook off and wound up running for nine seasons, andSteve Carelltook upBrent’s mantle asMichael Scottfor seven seasons, for which he was nominated for several Emmys. No word yet on whenDavid Brent: Life On The Roadwill hit Netflix, but based on the U.K. cinema run being scheduled for August, we can guess you can expect it around that time.
