‘Next Goal Wins’ Trailer: Taika Waititi’s Sports Comedy With Michael Fassbender Hits Theaters In November

Taika Waititi’s follow-up to “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Next Goal Wins,” has all the ingredients of a potential Awards contender. The movie is based on the 2014 British documentary of the same name, directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, with a script written by Waititi and Iain Morris. The movie tells the story of coach Thomas Rongen, who is tasked to turn around the American Samoa national football team from one of the worst football teams in the world to one of the best. Waititi won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2020 with “Jojo Rabbit,” and an inspirational underdog sports biopic always plays well with Academy voters. 

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Michael Fassbender plays Rongen, with the film also 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 film in 2021 after allegations of abuse were made against the actor. Hammer’s role was initially meant to be a cameo, but Waititi expanded upon Arnett’s presence in the movie throughout reshoots. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Waititi described his latest film as 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 film will be releasing exclusively in theaters on November 17. You can watch the trailer below: