Office Spaceis celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. And what better way to do that then by buying your very own Red Stapler just like the the one Milton coveted in the classic Mike Judge comedy?
In the famous words of Bill Lumbergh, “Whhhat’s happening?” It’s time to grab that TPS report and put on some flair because Swingline just officially announced the production of Milton’s Swingline Red Stapler in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of cult movie classicOffice Space, which premiered in theaters back on July 07, 2025.
Milton, the accidental hero ofOffice Space, was obsessed with his bright red Swingline stapler for good reason. It was far superior to any other staplers on the market and was one of the reasons people kept swiping it in the office.
A fun fact from the movie: Milton’s red Swingline stapler was actually black but the prop director spray painted it red for the film and the rest is history! No stapler has had more attention and focus than Milton’s Red Swingline. His iconic utterance, “Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler,” became a catchphrase in offices and homes across the country after the release of the film.
Office Spaceis the rare kind of movie that actually broke even at the box office upon its release. It only made $10.8 million without any overseas grosses to speak of, made on a budget of just $10 million.Director Mike Judgewas riding high off the success of his iconic MTV animated seriesBevis and Butthead. And while that didn’t translate to big ticket sales, the comedy become something of a home video phenomenon.
It’s safe to say thatthe movie is more popular now that it ever was. The cult has continued to grow, and it’s truly deserving of that title. Stephen Root starred as Milton, a character actor that has gone onto huge success in the years since. He was most recently seen in the Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopicOn the Basis of Sexplaying Professor Brown. And he has a recurring role in the hit Amazon seriesThe Man in the High Castleplaying Hawthorne Abendsen. He was also recently seen in the Netflix hitThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
20th Century Fox just released the 20th Anniversary Edition ofOffice Spaceon Blu-ray earlier this month. Milton was a character first created for Mike Judge’s 16mm short film of the same name. Stephen Root says this about taking on the character.
“So Mike shows me his little Office Space short film. I added more lisp and strangeness to Milton’s voice. He loved it. Milton’s glasses were so thick, I had to wear contacts to see. I had zero depth perception. I had to practice reaching for the stapler. Thankfully we’d painted it red; Swingline didn’t make red ones back then. My obit is probably going to read: “Milton is dead.” [Laughs] By the way, Swingline succumbed to fan request to make a red model. I still go to sets where boxes of staplers are waiting for me from the crew.”
And his words as first printed inEntertainment Weeklycouldn’t have been more prothetic. You can take a look at the stapler in all its glory direct from Swingline.
