Lace up your cleats, fans! This week, writer and director Gurinder Chadha announced she is working on a sequel to the hit soccer film Bend It Like Beckham, released in 2002 and starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley.
“I’m excited to revisit the original characters and revive the enduring story and build on the legacy we helped to create for the women’s game,” Chadha told Deadline in an interview.
Here’s everything we know about the project so far.
What will the sequel to Bend It Like Beckham be about?
In the original film, Nagra plays a teen girl named Jasminder who loves both soccer and Manchester United’s David Beckham. Unfortunately, her parents are very unenthusiastic about her engaging in sports. She ends up joining a girls’s soccer team in secret, where she meets Jules, played by Knightley. There, she discovers just how great she can be while also learning to navigate first romances and friendship. Her success ultimately brings her closer to her family in an uplifting story about following your dreams.
Since it’s 23 years later, everyone would obviously be in a new time in their lives. Chadha says a sequel will also address the changes in women’s sports.
“I didn’t want to do anything because I didn’t have a story,” she said of the time gap since the first film. “And then I came up with a great story, really super-cool story. So now I’m inspired. Literally came up with it just about a month ago. It’s my very clear wish to bring the characters back very, very soon. Women’s football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever. It is an honor for me to be a small part of it.”
She wrote the original screenplay with Guljit Bindra and husband Paul Mayeda Berges.
Who will star in the Bend It Like Beckham sequel?
Aside from Nagra and Knightley, fans would expect the return of Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the Hounslow Harriers team manager and Jasminder’s love interest. But so far, no one is officially confirmed.
Chadha stated that Nagra, Knightley, as well as cast members Archie Panjabi and Juliet Stevenson “are aware that a sequel is being developed, but they obviously want to see a script before they commit.”
“I’m pretty certain that everyone’s going to want to come back,” she added. “Everything hinges on the script and if the original cast likes it. I am working really hard to make sure every character I bring back has a decent arc and scenes.”
When will the sequel be released?
The goal for Chadha is to have the sequel out by 2027 for the original film’s 25th anniversary, which will coincide with the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament in Brazil that year.
This post will be updated.
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