The new spin-off series set in the same universe as The Office has reportedly landed its first cast members.
Greg Daniels, the screenwriter and producer who adapted Ricky Gervais’s famous Slough-based sitcom for US television, is working on a follow-up with Nathan For You co-creator Michael Koman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources say that the new cast will be led by Sabrina Impacciatore, who played resort manager Valentina in the second season of The White Lotus, and Domhnall Gleeson, perhaps best known as General Armitage Hux in the Star Wars films The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
It has previously been reported that the mockumentary series will likely be set in a new office with new characters, but would live within the same world as the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
The mooted follow-up to The Office US, which continues to be a huge draw on streaming, is being developed for Universal Television but has yet to receive a green light.
Daniels approached Koman thanks to his previous work on the docu-reality Comedy Central series Nathan For You, which he co-created with star Nathan Fielder, and saw Fielder attempt to help struggling companies.
Koman’s other writing credits include Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. In 2012, he married actor Ellie Kemper, who played naive receptionist Erin Hannon on The Office from the show’s fifth season onwards.
Last September, it was reported that Daniels was looking to reboot or revamp The Office.
Centring on a paper and stationery supplies wholesale company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the US version of The Office ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013.
Steve Carell was The Office’s main star for its first seven seasons, playing the company’s socially awkward but endearing boss, Michael Scott. Other major characters included sales executive Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and office disciplinarian Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
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In 2018, a Nielsen report revealed that Netflix subscribers clocked up more minutes watching The Office than any other TV show.
Daniels has previously hinted at bringing the show back, but in an updated form rather than having the actors reprising the same roles.
“I think it would just be sort of like an extension of the universe, you know what I mean, like the way [The] Mandalorian is like an extension of Star Wars. But I don’t know if that would be something people would want or not, it’s hard to tell.”
In February this year, Dakota Johnson recalled the “weird dynamics” on the set of The Office finale, saying: “No one wanted to talk to me.”
