Ricky Gervais says his next film, The Men at the Pru, will be a cross between The Office and nostalgic US TV series Mad Men, set in Reading in the 1970s. According to The Independent, Gervais and creative partner Stephen Merchant have written the script of the 'dramady', about two twenty-somethings working as building society clerks in dull suburbia. Gervais wrote in his online blog: "Did a bit of scouting for The Men at the Pru. Filming won't start 'til next May or June but locations can really inspire. I've also been reading books about my home town of Reading. That's where the HQ of the Prudential Building Society was in the 70s." Gervais and Merchant have done extensive research for the film, which involved studying the archives of the Prudential insurance company and studying staff magazines and old cinema advertisements. There's no word on casting for The Men at the Pru, but Gervais suggested he would be involved on screen.
