Gervais film inspired by Springsteen, 'Fever'

Rex Features

Ricky Gervais has said that his forthcoming film Cemetery Junction is inspired by Bruce Springsteen and Saturday Night Fever.

Speaking to Collider, Gervais revealed that he and co-director Stephen Merchant have drawn from the US for their coming-of-age story set in '70s Reading.

"One of the lines that inspired us is from [Springsteen's] 'Thunder Road'," Gervais said. "'It's a town full of losers and we're pulling out of here to win'. It's like our Saturday Night Fever."

He added: "I suppose it's about class. It's a romantic drama, I suppose. It's sort of a return to what Steve and I do best... the minutia of human behavior. It's set in the early '70s and it's about a group of twentysomethings that try to escape that stifling small town sort of mentality."

Cemetery Junction opens in the UK on April 7, 2010.

> Video: Gervais teases Cemetery Junction