It’s officially confirmed by NBC Entertainment president Angela Bromstad; the upcoming season of The Office will be Steve Carell’s final season as a series regular.

“Not to diminish the departure of Steve, because that will impact the show, but we have tremendous faith in the writers and actors to keep it alive,” Bromstad said in an Associate Press report.

Carell had been hinting at his exit for months, as he was at the end of his contract; he’s developed a prolific movie career on the side and that is expected to be his primary pursuit following his exit from the top NBC comedy.

Speculation has run amok on who might replace Carell as the head of Dunder Mifflin. While Jim seems to be a natural choice, many have said the creative possibilities of putting Dwight in charge might be more intriguing. Of course, the show may also opt to introduce a new character, in which case, the question becomes what actor could step into the established ensemble without upsetting the established chemistry.

Personally, if I could choose anyone, I’d draft Aziz Ansari, currently a supporting cast member of Parks and Recreation. But I’m not sure I have enough onecall coupons to really sell anyone by myself on the idea.

However, spare me the suggestions of Ricky Gervais reviving his David Brent character on the US version to replace Carell; it’s a fan-boy dream, nothing more.

With the weekend box office numbers now final, it is clear that all the promotional tote bags in the world couldn’t help Angelina Jolie’s SALT from upsetting Chris Nolan’s INCEPTION from the top spot at the box office.

The final numbers are Inception $43.7 million on the weekend, Salt in second place with $36 million. Despicable Me was a distant third with $23 million and no one else even cracked $10 million.

Of course, this weekend will be interesting as the kid-friendly Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore makes a challenge to the adults-only Inception. Charlie St. Cloud could quietly do well, also. And there’s always a chance Dinner for Schmucks could break $10 million, which could lift box office results overall.

We’ll see.