The Office sequel series seems to be moving forward according to the latest update, reported by Deadline.
Despite recent reports about a potential reboot of The Office, the creator of the American version of the acclaimed comedy previously confirmed he has no interest in making it happen, but he has other ideas that could expand the universe of the series.
Now it seems that Greg Daniels has actively started work on the next generation of the series, with a spin-off/sequel "set in the same universe" as the popular sitcom. The report suggests that although the project is in the very early stages, Daniels is setting up a writers' room filled with his "most trusted" writers to start pushing the project forward. While it seems clear that this series will feature a new setting, and new cast, the fact that it will be in the same universe as The Office suggests that there could well be some former stars of that series able to drop in from time to time.
Released in 2005 and based on the British comedy of the same name created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office has become one of the most popular television comedies of all time, comparable to Friends, and Seinfeld among others. Filmed as a mockumentary, the series focuses on the experiences of a group of employees at an office of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The show came to an end in 2013 after nine seasons, although the last installments received a lot of criticism and suffered a loss of audience, especially after the departure of its main star, Steve Carell. Despite this, The Office franchise has been very successful around the world, with location-specific versions being produced in many countries. Of course, now that the U.S. version has been dormant for a decade, it could be seen as being on the list for a reboot, just like many other franchises and movies. Apparently though, that is something that doesn't hold any interest for creator Greg Daniels.
In an interview with The Wrap, the creator of The Office U.S., Greg Daniels addressed the recent rumors about a reboot, confirming that it is not something he wants to do, but he has considered expanding the franchise with a spin-off. He said:
"I don’t like to think of anything as a reboot, you know what I mean? Because I feel like we ended that story beautifully. The characters had closure. I would never want to redo that same show with a different cast, because I think we got the luckiest cast, the best cast ever, in TV, to do that show. So the notion of a reboot is not of interest. The notion of maybe something like the way The Mandalorian is a new show in the Star Wars universe, you know what I mean? Something like the notion of this documentary crew doing a documentary about a different subject. That, I think, could be intriguing and creative. But I don’t even know what you would call that. I don’t know if that’s like a sister show or something. I don’t know what the term is. But it doesn’t feel like ‘reboot’ would be the appropriate term for that."
Australia Will Give a New Twist to The Office with Their Version
Maybe The Office U.S. is not going to have a new and updated version, and fans may have to wait a long time to see a spinoff, but in Australia they will be able to enjoy their own adaptation of the series, although it will present something a little bit different.
An Australian version of The Office is currently in production, and it will have a woman in the leading role. The comedian Felicity Ward will be the head of the office, a part played by Carell in the American version, and by Gervais himself in the British version. The show will follow Ward's character, Hannah Howard, who is the managing director of a packaging company named Flinley Craddick.
