Another new remake of the classic BBC sitcom The Office has been announced, with Mexico being the latest country to get in on the act.
READ MORE: ‘The Office’ review: Amazon’s workaday Australian remake is dogged by déjà vu
As confirmed by Variety, the Mexican incarnation will be helmed by writer and director Gary ‘Gaz’ Alazraki, who has had hits with the 2013 film Nosotros Los Nobles and the 2015 series Club De Cuervos, and showrunner Marcos Bucay (Cómo Sobrevivir Soltero).
The show will be made available on Amazon Prime Video, and will revolve around the company Olimpo Soaps in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, led by the office manager Jerónimo Ponce III.
Alonso Aguilar, head of Mexico Originals at Amazon Studios, has said: “It’s really exciting to do our own version of one of the most successful comedies of all time. The Mexican office worker subculture is one of the richest and most surreal in the world, and with Marcos Bucay and Gaz Alazraki, the two most successful comedy creators in the country, we know we have something unique that will surpass all expectations and leave fans of previous versions speechless.”
‘The Office’ starred Ricky Gervais as David Brent. Credit: BBC
The news comes the week after the release of the Australian version of the show, which landed on Amazon Prime Video on October 18. That iteration has split audiences, with some viewers saying it made them “want to drink a pint of bleach” and “an insult to an iconic show”.
NME, meanwhile, gave the “workaday Australian remake” a two-star review, describing it as being “dogged by déjà vu” but adding: “It took the US Office two seasons to stop being a bad cover version and hit its stride. In this cutthroat climate of streaming where series are prematurely culled, will this be allowed time to settle into its own unique rhythm? A fatalistic question that would probably be followed in The Office by a reaction cutaway shot to somebody’s eyes awkwardly darting from side to side.”
These are the latest adaptations of the BBC series, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, that first aired in 2001. Numerous others have been produced around the world, with the US series being the longest-running.
A spin-off series to the US version, reportedly titled The Paper, has been announced to premiere on the streaming platform Peacock, too. Domhnall Gleeson, Tim Key and Gbemisola Ikumelo are among the cast.
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