Saudi edition of ‘The Office’ in the works

Saudi Arabia will soon be getting its own remake of BBC hit comedy series ‘The Office’. The remake titled ‘Al Maktab’ will be starring Malik Al-Tumaifi and directed by Egypt’s Hisham Fathi, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

BBC Studios, which owns the format rights, and MBC Studios, the production arm of Saudi-owned Middle East satellite giant MBC, have unveiled ‘Al Maktab’, the first Arabic-language version of the long-running and award-winning comedy series.

The shooting will start from next month and will be staring Saleh Abuamrh as Malik Al-Tumaifi, the comically self-absorbed David Brent/Michael Scott character at the center of the show, with the comedy shifting from a paper merchant to a courier services company.

The show will also star Fahad Albutairi, Nawaf Alshobaili, Saad Aziz, Adhwa Fahad, Razan Mansour, Reem Busati, Hisham Hawsawi and others. The series will be directed by renowned 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 humor, and a boss that sometimes makes a fool of themselves still rings just as true,” said André Renaud, SVP format sales for BBC Studios. “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.”

The 20-part series will broadcast on MBC’s TV channels, and via its streaming platform Shahid VIP, later this year.