Thor: Love and Thunder may not have been everyone’s favorite Taika Waititi project, but the Kiwi director is set to come back to a genre that turned him into a critical darling.
Check out the trailer for Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender:
Here’s the official synopsis:
Directed by Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), NEXT GOAL WINS follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for their brutal 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hires down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around in this heartfelt underdog comedy.
The movie is based on real events, and there was even a documentary that came out back in 2014 with the very same name, covering Rongen’s taking over of the American Samoa soccer team and training them to be competent players. Here’s the trailer:
With Waititi’s movie though, we should expect more things to be changed up for the dramatization like new characters and shenanigans, but I bet that the story will keep to the underdog nature of the team, with some splashes of Waititi’s signature humor here and there.
I’ll admit, Waititi’s knack for humor kind of takes a backseat with his Marvel movies like Thor: Ragnarok and Love and Thunder, but his more grounded films like Jojo Rabbit and Hunt for the Wilderpeople have always been sharp and charming. Let’s hope Next Goal Wins falls in that category.
Catch Next Goal Wins when it comes to cinemas on Oct. 20.
