It’s been a long time coming the wait for Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy Next Goal Wins. First announced in 2019 and completed shooting in 2020, the film saw huge delays when accusations against Armie Hammer led to his role being recast with Will Arnett. But now three years after we should’ve seen it, the film is finally arriving in theaters on November 17th.
Fox Searchlight confirmed the news today, dropping the first clip and a new poster. Michael Fassbender leads the cast as Thomas Rongen, a down-on-his-luck coach hired for the impossible task of turning around the woeful American Samoa squad in time for World Cup qualifiers.
The film is based on Rongen’s true story, captured in the 2014 documentary of the same name.
Also in the cast are Oscar Kightley, Elisabeth Moss, David Fane, Rachel House, Kaitlyn Dever, Kaimana, Uli Latukefu, Beulah Koale, Luke Hemsworth, and of course there’s a role for Waititi, too.
Next Goal Wins will have its world premiere at TIFF in just four days, so we won’t have to wait long to hear the early buzz.