Taika Waititi’s follow-up to “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Next Goal Wins,” has all of the substances of a possible Awards contender. The film is predicated on the 2014 British documentary of the identical identify, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, with a script written by Waititi and Iain Morris. The film tells the story of coach Thomas Rongen, who’s tasked to show across the American Samoa nationwide soccer workforce from one of many worst soccer groups on the earth to top-of-the-line. Waititi gained the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2020 with “Jojo Rabbit,” and an inspirational underdog sports activities biopic at all times performs nicely with Academy voters.
Michael Fassbender performs Rongen, with the movie additionally starring Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Uli Latukefu, Rachel House, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Moss, Rhys Darby and Angus Sampson. Arnett replaces Armie Hammer, who departed the movie in 2021 after allegations of abuse had been made towards the actor. Hammer’s function was initially meant to be a cameo, however Waititi expanded upon Arnett’s presence within the film all through reshoots.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Waititi described his newest movie because the “Cool Runnings” of soccer, stating that “Rugby is the national sport in New Zealand, but it’s about underdogs, and I just love underdog stories. Most of my films are about people who live on the margins, or are a little bit left out, and it just fit right in for me. It’s a true story, but it’s got all the elements that all the great sports films have. It’s basically the ‘Cool Runnings’ of soccer.”
Produced by Waititi, Brett, Jamison, Jonathan Cavendish, and Garrett Basch, the movie will probably be releasing solely in theaters on November 17. You can watch the trailer beneath: