The Office US is reportedly on its way back to our screens as the Hollywood writers’ strike nears its end.
On Sunday (24 September), the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced that they’d reached a “tentative agreement” with studios and streaming companies over their terms.
After the deal is voted upon by the Guild’s board and members, the strike will officially end, more than four months after it began in May.
In a statement shared with union members via email, the organisation wrote: “[The] WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days.”
As writers and entertainment figures react to this new development, reports have started to emerge about what the end of the strike will mean for productions in Hollywood.
In an article for Puck News, writers Matthew Belloni and Jonathan Handel speculated about the imminent future of the entertainment industry. Among other project updates, they claimed that Greg Daniels, The Office US’s creator, was looking to revamp the series.
“Greg Daniels is set to do a reboot of The Office, for instance,” they wrote. “Disney’s Dana Walden will finally be able to announce the return of her BFF Ryan Murphy from Netflix. A ton of high-profile movie scripts will come in. The industry will chug back to normal.”
The Independent has reached out to a representative of Greg Daniels for comment.
The Office US - Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Michael (Steve Carell)— (NBC Universal)
The US version of The Office ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013. A remake of the original UK sitcom, the programme centred on the employees of a fictional paper and stationery company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Steve Carell was The Office’s main star for its first seven seasons, playing the company’s socially awkward but endearing boss, Michael Scott. Other major characters included sales executive Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and office disciplinarian Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
Daniels has previously hinted at bringing the show back, but in an updated form rather than having the actors reprising the same roles.
“I can’t tell whether fans would want more of it, and when I say more of it, I don’t think it would be the same characters,” he told Collider in 2022.
“I think it would just be sort of like an extension of the universe, you know what I mean, like the way [The] Mandalorian is like an extension of Star Wars. But I don’t know if that would be something people would want or not, it’s hard to tell.”
