--- description: The movie follows Brent as he pursues the passion he so eagerly shared with his office-mates on the show: that of singer-songwriter. title: Ricky Gervais Returns for 'David Brent: Life on the Road' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a1f47534f96dad9/69889853ab6d7769746aa1ee/ricky-gervais.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ricky Gervais Dials Up the Cringe Factor in Trailer for _David Brent: Life on the Road_  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 17, 2016 3:42 PM CUT  Ricky Gervais arrives at AOL Build Speaker Series on June 15, 2016 in New York City. Ricky Gervais arrives at AOL Build Speaker Series on June 15, 2016 in New York City.Dave Kotinsky—Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 17, 2016 3:42 PM CUT [Ricky Gervais](http://time.com/4327518/ricky-gervais-donald-trump/ "undefined") was born to play [David Brent](http://time.com/3085466/ricky-gervais-the-office-david-brent/ "undefined"), the astonishingly unself-aware boss from the _The Office_, the U.K. series he created and which provided the inspiration for Michael, Jim, Pam and the Dunder Mifflin crew in the beloved [U.S. adaptation](http://time.com/4326668/the-office-jim-pam-first-kiss-10th-anniversary/ "undefined"). Sadly for his fans, that show ran for only two six-episode seasons. But now, more than a decade after he went off the air, David Brent returns, cringe-worthy as ever, in the film _David Brent: Life on the Road_, which [Gervais](http://time.com/4174513/golden-globes-ricky-gervais-opening-monologue-jokes/ "undefined") also wrote, directed and produced. The movie follows Brent as he pursues the passion he so [eagerly shared](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEtQj9wuqhs "undefined") with his office-mates on the show: that of singer-songwriter. The trailer for _Life on the Road_, which takes the form of a mockumentary about a tour with his band, Foregone Conclusion, offers familiar glimpses of Brent’s self-amused giggle and unrelenting offensiveness in his quest to be politically correct. His musical style appears to have evolved, over the last decade, to include a messy appropriation of rap and reggae, only the flabbergasted crowds now extend far beyond the walls of the Wernham Hogg paper company. _Life on the Road_ opens in U.K. theaters on Aug. 19, and Netflix will distribute it in the U.S., though a date has not been set. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4373182/ricky-gervais-trailer-david-brent-life-on-the-road/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4373182/ricky-gervais-trailer-david-brent-life-on-the-road/"},"headline":"Ricky Gervais Dials Up the Cringe Factor in Trailer for David Brent: Life on the Road","datePublished":"2016-06-17T15:42:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:41:11.105Z","description":"His character from the original, British version of \"The Office\" gets the feature-length treatment","url":"https://time.com/4373182/ricky-gervais-trailer-david-brent-life-on-the-road/","keywords":["movies","The Office","Movie trailers","Ricky Gervais"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a1f47534f96dad9/69889853ab6d7769746aa1ee/ricky-gervais.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a1f47534f96dad9/69889853ab6d7769746aa1ee/ricky-gervais.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ricky Gervais arrives at AOL Build Speaker Series on June 15, 2016 in New York City.","caption":"Ricky Gervais arrives at AOL Build Speaker Series on June 15, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"Dave Kotinsky—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4373182/ricky-gervais-trailer-david-brent-life-on-the-road/","name":"Ricky Gervais Dials Up the Cringe Factor in Trailer for David Brent: Life on the Road"}}]}] ```