At this point, Taika Waititi fans already think that his next film, sports comedy Next Goal Wins, is an urban legend. With a production that wrapped in 2020 and then suffered multiple delays due to COVID and re-shoots following the Armie Hammer scandal, it seemed like the movie would never see the light of day. However, a first trailer came out today as a beacon a hope that the upcoming title will stick to its somewhat far away November release date.
The trailer has the feel-good atmosphere we’ve come to expect from Taika Waititi projects, and already has us rooting for the underdog soccer team from African Samoa, which managed to suffer the most spectacular loss in international soccer history: 31-0 against Australia in 2014. Understandably, this took a huge toll on the team’s morale and they’ve been plagued by defeat ever since.
Enter Michael Fassbender as Thomas Rongen, a soccer coach that comes from another continent to try his unique approach with the players from the African Samoa team. As the trailer makes it clear, Next Goal Wins is leaning into the comedy of a story about “the greatest losing streak in history,” with the new footage set to ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me.” It looks like Thomas is going to be learning as much from this team as they’re set to learn from him.
It’s a good thing that Next Goal Wins is in the hands of Waititi, because the movie will feature a rare mix of soccer and transgender identity – a subject that is still very much taboo in the sports world. Since previous Waititi projects have been praised for their approach to sexual identity and orientation, it’s reasonable to expect that this movie will handle this subject lightly but always respectfully.
Next Goal Wins — The Told Story
The African Samoa team has already been the subject of a documentary that was a standout in film festivals across the world in 2014. The documentary influenced Waititi, who even kept the same title for his feature film. When the filmmaker unveiled the poster for the movie on his Twitter account, he called it his “least cynical film,” which suggests he felt a powerful connection with the story. You can watch the trailer for the documentary that inspired Waititi on this article.
Aside from directing, Waititi also co-writes the script of Next Goal Wins with Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners). The cast also features Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Oscar Kightley (Duckrockers), Rhys Darby (Our Flag Means Death), David Fane (800 Words), Beulah Koale (Hawaii 5-0), Uli Latukefu (Young Rock), Angus Sampson (The Lincoln Lawyer) and Kaimana – who makes their acting debut with the movie.
Next Goal Wins is scheduled to premiere on November 17.
You can watch the trailer below:
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