Next Goal Wins Footage Reaction: Taika Waititi Goes Full Ted Lasso [CinemaCon 2023]
Wake up, babe! Our first look at the next Taika Waititi movie just dropped! After sandwiching two "Thor" sequels for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in between his Oscars darling "Jojo Rabbit" in 2019, the quirky filmmaker is going back to his pre-franchise roots with "Next Goal Wins." The sports-centric comedy/drama should help wash off any bitter aftertaste from the somewhat mixed reception of "Thor: Love and Thunder," with this year's weeklong CinemaCon event providing the perfect launching pad to get this movie on everyone's radars. The film is based on a sports documentary from 2014 also titled "Next Goal Wins," adding a cinematic flair to the real-life story of the underdog American Samoa international football team reeling from their humiliating loss at the 2001 World Cup. The movie stars Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, and Polynesian actors David Fane, Beulah Koale, Lehi Falepapalangi, Semu Filipo, Uli Latukefu, and Waititi regular Rachel House.
That's the good news. The bad news is that, well, these footage reveals are usually kept as exclusive for those in attendance. But fear not! As has been the case thus far, /Film has our best man on the job, Ben Pearson, reporting back with copious details on everything he's witnessed at various panels. During today's lengthy Disney presentation, the studio unveiled a fresh look at "Next Goal Wins," which will hopefully hearken back to Waititi's best films like "Boy," the 2014 movie "What We Do In the Shadows," and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople." Check out all the details below!
Next Goal Wins footage description
Who says "Ted Lasso" has to be the only one with a monopoly on rags-to-riches soccer stories? "Next Goal Wins" should ideally end up being a return to form for Taika Waititi after his dalliance with superhero movies, and that certainly appears to be the case based on the footage that /Film's Ben Pearson got to see during CinemaCon.
The exclusive footage we saw at CinemaCon unfolds with Fassbender at the center, portraying former athlete and current down-on-his-luck American soccer football coach Thomas Rongen. Despite past success coaching highly talented teams, he finds himself on the outs and all but making his case to stay on his national team. "Next season I think we have a real shot," he declares in front of a panel ... before unceremoniously being let go and forced to look for a new job. That new job happens to fall right into his lap following the debacle of the American Samoa football club, coming off its horrendously embarrassing loss to Australia by a score of 31 to nil in the 2001 World Cup.
Without a single win or even just a goal in franchise history, Rongen has to overcome long odds, his own personal demons, a group of misfit players, and even a coach with a drinking problem in order to achieve even a semblance of success. Think of it as "Ted Lasso" by way of "The Mighty Ducks," but with Waititi's distinctive brand of humor and his ever-confident hand on the wheel guiding this movie from beginning to end. That means we can expect plenty of soccer antics, a tried-and-true underdog story, and — based on the melodrama that seems to be integral to the film — perhaps a sort of throwback to Waititi's brilliant 2010 film "Boy."
It's only a matter of time before Searchlight ramps up the marketing for "Next Goal Wins," so stay tuned to /Film for the first official (and publicly-released) trailer to hit. The film is slated to hit theaters on November 17, 2023.