Netflix Snapped Up Ricky Gervais’ Solo Movie About His Character From ‘The Office’

Larry David’s character of “Larry David” from Curb Your Enthusiasm isn’t the only classic television character who’s coming back to life on the small screen. David Brent, the former Wernham Hogg boss played by Ricky Gervais in the original British version of The Office, has a new film due in theaters this August. “But wait a minute,” you’re probably thinking, “you said ‘the small screen.’ So are theaters reducing their screen sizes now?” No, that’s not what’s happening. What is happening, however, is that Gervais’ beloved buffoon has a new movie, David Brent: Life on the Road, and it’s coming to the big screen in British cinemas… and the small screen everywhere else.

Life on the Road, which premiered a fantastic teaser (the same day as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s teaser, unfortunately) back in April, will grace theaters in the U.K. with its presence on August 19. Additional dates, including an American one, haven’t been made public yet, but thanks to Gervais’ Tuesday appearance on Opie Radio, the world knows that Brent’s musical gifts (or lack thereof) will stream to the rest of the world on Netflix sometime in 2017.

“This is exciting news and this is top-secret, so I’m going to say it now. Netflix have bought out the rest of the world again, so everyone’s going to see it,” said Gervais. “Which is great for me, because I’d rather 20 million people see it than half a million people see it in cinemas.”

Whether or not Netflix paid attention to the critical reception for Special Correspondents, its most recent collaboration with Gervais, remains to be seen. However, due to the streaming service’s refusal to release precise viewership numbers, the film co-starring Eric Bana could be a ratings success and we’d never know it. Not that any of that matters, because Gervais seems plenty excited about the deal. He even teased a new trailer for Life on the Road on Twitter after the interview.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)