One of America’s greatest sitcoms, The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, is getting yet another remake, mere months after two adaptations were announced; an Australian version and a South African one. Now, Variety reports that a Mexican reboot has been confirmed with Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios attached and Gary “Gaz” Alazraki’s Máquina Vega helming the project. Titled La Oficina, Alazraki directs and executive produces, while Marcos Bucay serves as showrunner.
La Oficina will be available exclusively on Prime Video in Latin America, Brazil and Spain as part of the overall deal signed between Amazon MGM Studios and Máquina Vega. This Mexican adaptation is set in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, where the office will be led by Jerónimo Ponce III, regional manager of the family business Jabones Olimpo, translated to Olimpo Soaps. Jerónimo isn’t cut out to lead and this causes the office staff to struggle with working in a family business.
Alonso Aguilar, head of Mexico Originals at Amazon Studios, spoke of the new project with unrestrained delight, in a statement:
“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.”
‘La Oficina’ Is A Celebration of Mexican Office Culture
Since The Office debuted in 2005, a couple of remakes have come to light, further cementing the superiority of the NBC series. Speaking about these adaptations as well as the upcoming Mexican one, André Renaud, SVP global format sales at BBC Studios said:
“For over 20 years, multiple versions of The Office have captivated audiences worldwide, and it’s exciting that Prime Video viewers in Latin America will now get to meet the Mexican version of David Brent with Jerónimo Ponce III stepping into the spotlight as the boss we hate to love.”
La Oficina will be the second Spanish-language version of the mockumentary as Chile’s adaptation, La Ofis, was created years ago. Moreover, Alazraki has always wanted to adapt The Office, ever since he purchased the DVDs in 2003 as he admired the show’s “humor and format,” making him consider it “the bravest comedy” ever. Similarly, his partner Bucay expressed:
“Doing the Mexican version of The Office is a dream, since it was precisely thanks to the original series, The Office, that I decided to write comedy. This series is a celebration of Mexican office culture and will be a pleasant surprise, as we have managed to take the format of The Office and really make it for Mexicans.”
While La Oficina has no release date yet, stay tuned to Collider for further updates. Meanwhile, all episodes of Gervais‘ The Office are streaming on Peacock.
via Collider