Bend it Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha has teased plans for a sequel to the 2002 hit.
It told the story of two young girls in London played by Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley who have aspirations of becoming professional footballers. Jess (Nagra) comes from a devout family of British Indian Punjabi Sikhs, who initially disapprove of her footballing dreams.
It was a huge hit commercially and critically and remains one of the highest-grossing football movies ever made.
There hasn't been much talk of a sequel in the two decades since Bend It Like Beckham was released, but in that time women's football has become increasingly popular around the world, while the England women's side recently won the World Cup.
Chadha believes the time is right for a follow-up.
"With all this talk of the World Cup and the popularity of women's football, in the past I haven't thought about ," she told Metro.
"I never really wanted to make a sequel to the film because I just thought the way Parminder and Keira played it, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Archie Panjabi, I could never really follow that up and create that same magic in the same way. But with the recent success of football, I just feel like I'm starting to percolate an idea for a possible sequel of some kind."
Bend It like Beckham (2002)
Like so many football crazy youngsters, Jess wants to play football like David Beckham. Her traditional parents would rather see her go to law school, live with an Asian boy and learn how to prepare Indian food. Jules is the star player of Hounslow Harriers, who spots Jess kicking a ball in the park. She persuades Jess to come to the training. Not much later, Jess sneaks out of the house at every opportunity to work on her dribbling, rounding and free kicks. When Jess's parents find out what she's up to, things naturally catch on. Meanwhile, Jules' mother Paula is terrified that Jules' soccer obsession is turning her into a screaming lesbian.
Directed by: Gurinder Chadha
Stars:
Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers
The director revealed in the interview that she has received plenty of letters of thanks from young women who were inspired to take up football after Bend It Like Beckham.
She didn't outright say a sequel was in the works, but she is developing a football project of some sort.
"I feel like with all these accolades, and particularly the star, I feel like my audience around the world deserve a little taster of something," she continued.
"So, I'm looking at doing something that will be kind of in celebration of the film and the audience around the world who've loved it."
Related Movie
Bend It like Beckham
Comedy / Sport
2002 • 112 minutes
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