Ricky Gervais has been talking up his next work with Stephen Merchant, titled Cemetery Junction, formerly The Men From The Pru. It seems clear that Gervais has taken a back seat on this film. He previously stated that he was looking for the English, 23-year old versions of John Travolta, James Dean and Lou Costello. A big ask, definitely, but I have faith that Gervais and Merchant will deliver a film that will be both realistic and hilarious.

Our first look at Gervais has been released on his always-excellent blog, which is covering the seven week shoot. His character is called Len Taylor, about whom he blogged the following:

“I play a fat middle-aged bloke from Reading by the way. Chameleon.”

A joke, obviously. Gervais plays variations of himself in everything he’s done, which I’ll be honest is an advantage because he’s hilarious, and if he feels he can’t act something out of the box, then why do it?

Cemetery Junction is due out in the first quarter of 2010.

Do you have high hopes for Cemetery Junction?