The most popular comedy of the century is headed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Yep, MBC and BBC are collaborating to remake the iconic British series The Office created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
The Saudi-led version will be titled Al Maktab, and is scheduled to begin filming in June 2022. The Arabic-language series will be headlined by Saleh Abuamrh, star of MBC’s recent Ramadan smash hit Road Trip. He will Malik Al-Tuwaifi, the self-absorbed yet loveable boss, filling in the big shoes of Gervais and Steve Carrell. It will also no longer be set in a paper company, but instead a courier services company.
The Office has a history of great remakes. After all, it was made even more iconic when it was remade by Greg Daniels in the US starring Carrell as Michael Scott, propelling it to the stratosphere.
The Office Arabia: Who’s starring?
Also joining the cast are Fahad Albutairi, Nawaf Alshobaili, Saad Aziz, Adhwa Fahad, Razan Mansour, Reem Busati, Hisham Hawsawi, and others.
The twenty-part series will broadcast on MBC’s TV channels, and stream via Shahid VIP later this year.
The show will be directed by Egyptian filmmaker Hisham Fathi, with Alessandro Martella as director of photography (DoP) and AFLAM Productions’ Shadi Mcdad as producer.
“Although office working may look slightly different for many of us in 2022, the familiarity of these well-observed characters as they navigate petty rivalries, moments of friendship and humour, and a boss that sometimes makes a fool of themselves still rings just as true. I’m sure audiences in the Middle East and the Gulf will take Malik and his team to their hearts as much as audiences did with David Brent in the UK over twenty years ago,” André Renaud, SVP Format Sales for BBC Studios said.
“Audiences around the world, including in the MENA region, are no strangers to ‘The Office’, and given its huge success over the past two decades, it’s incredibly exciting for us to now be bringing the very first Arabic version of the comedy to MBC’s screens very soon,” added Zeinab Abul Alsamh – General Manager of MBC STUDIOS KSA.
Yes, this means the stapler will soon be in the jello again.