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Ricky Gervais plans David Brent: The Movie

Started by Nowhere Man, August 05, 2014, 03:12:26 PM

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Nowhere Man

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11013660/David-Brent-The-Movie-to-be-made-in-2015.html

Quote from: telegraph on August 05, 2014, 02:46:51 PM
From Slough to Hollywood: David Brent is moving up in the world.
Ricky Gervais's office manager character is to get his own film in coming years, it has been announced. Called Life on the Road, the film will be based on Brent and his life after The Office, the BBC Two sitcom in which he was first introduced.
The film will start production in 2015 and will pick up on the past 15 years of Brent's life, since he was made redundant from paper merchants Wernham Hogg.

As fans of Brent's YouTube shows will attest, the former pen-pusher still has big dreams of rock stardom, despite the fact he has a day job as a sales rep selling cleaning products up and down the country.
Similar to the mockumentary style that made The Office so revolutionary, Life on the Road will follow Brent on his self-financed tour. A release says: "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."

The brief suggests that the film may catch up with other Wernham Hogg employees seen in The Office, such as Brent's right hand man Gareth Keenan (MacKenzie Crook) or Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman).
The film will be shot in the UK.



Why?

George Oscar Bluth II

The name "Stephen Merchant" is conspicuous by it's absence.

Cleaners From Venus

Is this his admission, to quote his Twitter, that he now realises he's a 'one-trick pony'?

Replies From View

QuoteA release says: "He thinks it'll be like Scorsese filming the Rolling Stones, but it turns out to be a 'where are they now' documentary.

Cor, groundbreaking.  So Brent thinks it'll be a film that'll be shown in cinemas, and instead it'll just be a follow-up to The Office Christmas Specials.

So why is it actually a film that'll be shown in cinemas, then?

Replies From View


That looks like an impersonator. Never a good sign.

elnombre

Sounds like a cross between This Is Spinal Tap.

Replies From View

Quote from: elnombre on August 05, 2014, 03:29:50 PM
Sounds like a cross between This Is Spinal Tap.

...and Michael Jackson's This Is It.

Fat Prick Pony more like. (This is mean, even for me).

checkoutgirl

Quote from: Cleaners From Venus on August 05, 2014, 03:18:59 PM
Is this his admission, to quote his Twitter, that he now realises he's a 'one-trick pony'?

No because "Multi Emmy, Bafta, & Golden Globe-winning Writer, Director, Actor, Producer, Author and Stand up Comedian".

You can't be all those things and a one trick pony. He's won a multi Emmy for god's sake.

Ignatius_S

I don't think this announcement contains any new real information of note. A few months ago, it was confirmed that a mockumentary of Brent's tour would be filmed and there was some suggestion that it would received a cinema release of some kind.

Looks like the only new info is that filming will start next year and the scope of the film is going to be a bit wider than previously reported.

Quote from: George Oscar Bluth II on August 05, 2014, 03:15:28 PM
The name "Stephen Merchant" is conspicuous by it's absence.

Not really – Merchant hasn't been involved in any of Gervais' resurrection of Brent, nor has there been any sign that the two will be working again in the near future. 

Cleaners From Venus

^ Shit, I take it back. Is that the Emmy for being bestest at everything, ever?

Replies From View

Quote from: Cleaners From Venus on August 05, 2014, 03:39:53 PM
^ Shit, I take it back. Is that the Emmy for being bestest at everything, ever?

It's the award for "Managing To Be a Good Sport After Losing the Radio Times Award".

George Oscar Bluth II

Quote from: Ignatius_S on August 05, 2014, 03:38:54 PM
Not really – Merchant hasn't been involved in any of Gervais' resurrection of Brent, nor has there been any sign that the two will be working again in the near future.

Well yes. My point is more "this'll be shit I reckon" for that reason.

I wonder what happened between the two of them. Merch was happily yukking it up in Life's Too Short just a couple of years ago.

olliebean

He (obviously Brent, but Gervais as well) is convinced he was the star of The Office, isn't he? It owed much of its success to the fact that it worked so well as an ensemble piece, and Brent is never going to work half as well without the ensemble. Sounds like this is going to be an extension of the Brent-on-the-road bits of The Office Christmas Specials, which to my mind were the least successful bits.

The Roofdog


Geoffrey

"The brief suggests that the film may catch up with other Wernham Hogg employees seen in The Office, such as Brent's right hand man Gareth Keenan (MacKenzie Crook) or Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman)."

Hmmm not sure about that if Merchant isn't involved? As they aren't solely Gervais' characters to use.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: George Oscar Bluth II on August 05, 2014, 03:54:09 PM
I wonder what happened between the two of them.

I reckon they never really liked each other much and Merchant was biding his time for years to do his own thing. I'm sure there was a discussion at some point to let Ricky continue with Brent on his own because I'd say Merchant must have a controlling interest in the character. I don't recall there ever being any Brent stuff that Merchant wasn't involved with. I'd say Merchant just said that he was busy with other stuff and gave his blessing to Ricky to continue on with the character. No big dramatic argument, just banal life.

BritishHobo

Right, as others have pointed out, is this not literally just the Office Christmas Special without the engaging stuff about Tim and Dawn?

A few years back I thought it would be fun if they made a Partridge movie that was a 'documentary'; a bunch of ironic hipster student pricks seek out a real has-been and trick him into thinking they're basing the documentary on him because he's a national treasure and everyone wants to find out what he's up to. Partridge falls for it, goes along with it, then ultimately realises what's going on, and drops out with his pride somewhat intact.

The difference between Partridge and Brent is that the Partridge writers, unlike me, have always found new and interesting things to do with the character, and Iannucci and Coogan have felt confident enough to step aside and let new writers (the Gibbons brothers) take the reins without ever losing the Partridge feel. Whereas Gervais, on his own, has repeatedly revived Brent only to do the exact same boring stuff, and reverse the only genuine bit of character development he's ever written, because Brent is the last widely well-regarded character he has.

I wonder if Gervais' new black friend Doc BlackBrown will appear.

BritishHobo

Seriously, fuck's sake. I enjoyed Extras, but The Office is the one truly great thing he did. Does he really have to do this? Whatever happen to all his self-important guff about having the integrity to end a series and leave it be?

Jake Thingray

Even if this does happen, the thread on here about it, and Gervais' methods of promoting it, will be far more entertaining than the thing itself. If, as the last line in that Torygraph report claimed, it "will be filmed in the UK", presumably it'll be another chance for him to tell the American media how much Britain fails to recognise and promote success and talent.

Thomas

Right, space here for my The Office verdict, having just consumed the entire show in three days.

It is good. I found myself caring for the characters - the relationship between Tim and Dawn was pretty moving,
Spoiler alert
though, dramatically, I think it would've been better if Dawn hadn't returned for Tim at the very end
[close]
- and watching through my fingers during some of the more awkward scenes.

I did notice strains of Derek-lite characterisation towards the end, however, especially in Lee in the Christmas specials with his unambiguous 'bad guy' attitude. Before that, though, I was warmly surprised at just how subtle and emotional the whole thing was. And very funny, of course.

I was also glad that the caretaker, with his habit of staring at the camera, was never referenced in dialogue. Would have spoiled it.

BritishHobo

I think the main problem with Tim and Dawn is that they just had too much time to develop. Thankfully Gervais refined and perfected that storyline in Derek, condensing the entire 'I'm leaving' 'Oh no' 'I'm back' storyline into the space of about twenty-two seconds, in 'Tom joins the Merchant Navy'; a storyline sure to go down in sitcom history alongside Blackadder going over the top, and Cassandra's hilarious miscarriage.

thenoise

Quote from: BritishHobo on August 05, 2014, 04:41:24 PM
I think the main problem with Tim and Dawn is that they just had too much time to develop. Thankfully Gervais refined and perfected that storyline in Derek, condensing the entire 'I'm leaving' 'Oh no' 'I'm back' storyline into the space of about twenty-two seconds, in 'Tom joins the Merchant Navy'; a storyline sure to go down in sitcom history alongside Blackadder going over the top, and Cassandra's hilarious miscarriage.

If Ricky truly thinks that Derek is the best thing he ever did, why is he digging up his old amateur efforts for the big screen?  Derek the movie would clearly be his masterpiece.

BritishHobo

Imagine if David Brent and Derek went on tour together. What would happen when the unstoppable force of Ricky's urge to make ironic jokes about any non-white or non-able-bodied/minded person meets the immovable object of Ricky's denial that Derek is anything other than  just very very kind and special? Some form of universe-destroying paradox, I would imagine, and just soon enough, considering we would be watching a Derek movie.

Norton Canes

Quote from: George Oscar Bluth II on August 05, 2014, 03:15:28 PM
The name "Stephen Merchant" is conspicuous by it's absence

Perhaps now they will both create versions of David Brent, like Mike Nolan and Bobby G both created versions of Bucks Fizz. The legal case should be interesting. Best outcome would be if Merchant gets to call his version 'The Real David Brent', but has to hire a Gervais impersonator to play him. Meanwhile Gervais has to call his something like 'Ricky Gervais's David Brent', even though it clearly is actually him.   

Norton Canes

Hang on, it was David Van Day that got involved in the Bucks Fizz dispute wasn't it. Mike Nolan was off the scene by then.

So to make the analogy accurate, Merchant would lose interest but another comic writer/performer, let's say Iannucci for argument's sake, would have to come aboard, then have a massive argument with Gervais.

BritishHobo

Rob Grant and Doug Naylor did a similar thing with the Red Dwarf books, they each wrote their own third book, sort of alternate-endings; Naylor's was a weird knockabout comedy thing, and Grant's was a full on hard sci-fi thriller.

Norton Canes

Of course, the irony is that Gervais is probably already incorporating an archly meta concept such as this into his scripts.

Danger Man

Quote from: Thomas on August 05, 2014, 04:35:36 PM
Right, space here for my The Office verdict, having just consumed the entire show in three days.

It is good. I found myself caring for the characters - the relationship between Tim and Dawn was pretty moving,
Spoiler alert
though, dramatically, I think it would've been better if Dawn hadn't returned for Tim at the very end
[close]
- and watching through my fingers during some of the more awkward scenes.

I did notice strains of Derek-lite characterisation towards the end, however, especially in Lee in the Christmas specials with his unambiguous 'bad guy' attitude. Before that, though, I was warmly surprised at just how subtle and emotional the whole thing was. And very funny, of course.

I was also glad that the caretaker, with his habit of staring at the camera, was never referenced in dialogue. Would have spoiled it.

I think it's sweet that you use a spoiler for something that everybody on here watched ten years ago.