Greg Daniels is reportedly moving ahead with a new version of the show.
The Office might not get a reboot, but the show does appear to be making a comeback of sorts in a different fashion. Sources told Deadline that The Office veteran Greg Daniels is putting together a development room beginning today, January 16, to have his “trusted writers” think about ideas for another version of The Office.
This reported new version of The Office will not be a reboot, but instead could be a show that takes place in a different workplace with new characters. However, the report said this show would exist within the same universe, which would leave open the possibility for characters and events from the NBC series to potentially appear or be referenced in the follow-up.
The Office, which was based on the BBC series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, took place at the offices of fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. There is no word yet about what the story or setting could be for a potential sequel series.
In the American version of The Office, the conceit was that a documentary crew followed the workers as they went about their professional and personal lives. One possibility that Daniels has discussed is having a similar setup but with a different office and a different set of people.
The Office debuted in 2005 and ran for nine seasons, ending in 2013. Steve Carell, who played Michael Scott, left the show in Season 7. The series also starred John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, Jenna Fischer, Leslie David Baker, Mindy Kaling, Kate Flannery, Phyllis Smith, Brian Baumgartner, Ed Helms, Craig Robinson, Melora Hardin, and Oscar Nunez.
Carell has said a character like Scott would not fly in today’s climate with his off-color jokes.
The Office continues to be extremely popular and lucrative in syndication. NBCUniversal paid Netflix $500 million to bring all the episodes to its own streaming service, Peacock.
In other places around the world, like Australia, The Office has already been remade with new casts.