You read it correctly. The Office is headed to the big screen. Except that it's not the American version. Nor is it the original British version. The German version, called Stromberg, is getting the movie treatment.It will be an interesting experiment. If it is successful, I wonder if we'll see other franchises of The Office hit the big screen? Gervais and Merchant wrapped up the storylines of the British version quite nicely in the final special, so I don't see that version hitting the theaters (but since no story ever truly ends, I could be proven wrong).
The stars of the NBC version, however, are currently movie stars in their own right (Yes, I am counting The Rocker) and could possibly carry a movie version. However, at this stage a movie version would just interfere with the television version (much like Steven Moffat said about Doctor Who) so I don't see a movie of the U.S. version anytime soon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-27-2008 @ 4:11PM
Paul said...
Stromberg? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Stromberg
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8-27-2008 @ 6:20PM
StillBash said...
Not really...
8-27-2008 @ 6:25PM
StillBash said...
Sounds strange but the german version was actually kind of good. Not as cringeworthy as the british one but somehow lacking in the Pam/Jim department. The Office UK wasn't good at that either until the second special which wrapped it up nicely so to be honest I thought the second UK special was what could've been a movie.
Since the US version is still going strong I think a movie at the moment would be possible but only if they end the show soon enough - they rode "Friends" to death so no wonder the actors don't want to reprise their roles. And as you pointed out the stars on the US show have stellar movie careers at the moment so I don't really see it happening. I think they profit from their other roles off the TV screen and bring their special kind of energy to the movies. It's a good setup so I don't think anyone on those shows would want to ruin that.
Stromberg was performed by C-list actors so that's much more viable. It wasn't the big hit here, though it has a cult following. The show ended and like with the specials in the UK there's still enough left to tell in a movie format. It's perfect for that series but not so much for the other two installments.
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8-27-2008 @ 11:27PM
Adam said...
I'd love to see a British "Office" movie. The Christmas special that wrapped up the series was essentially a movie and the series itself was 2 miniseries. I think any excuse to see Finchy again is valid especially since they never show Packer in the US version. Plus, we need to see Lee kick Tim's ass like he started to do.
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8-28-2008 @ 8:51AM
Rico said...
A big NO from me on a US version movie. To me movies made from TV shows (i.e., X-Files) are usually just an extra long episode that could have just as easily been a TV special.
And we all know what happens when they make extra long episodes of The Office. They start driving cars in to lakes and other stupid thing happen. 30 minutes a week. That's all I want.
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