Next Goal Wins, Taika Waititi’s first original, non-franchise film since 2019’s Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, is finally in theaters. The movie is about football, or soccer for us Americans, and given that Waititi seems rather particular about the projects he takes on, one would assume he has immersed himself in the world of the sport. As it turns out, that isn’t quite the case. Not only does he consider his soccer knowledge to be at an “all time low,” but he hasn’t seen some pivotal, modern soccer shows that American audiences are absolutely crazy about, including Ted Lasso.
When I spoke with the filmmaker about Next Goal Wins, I confessed that my soccer knowledge is essentially limited to the massively popular shows Ted Lasso and Welcome to Wrexham. Consequently, said knowledge is at an all time high, despite how limited that may be. His brutally honest response surprised me:
Mine's at an all time low, still. And you know, I haven't really seen Ted Lasso and Wrexham. I come from a really strong rugby playing nation, that's our thing. But through seeing, through being around football or soccer and making the film and watching the Beckham doc., which is the greatest doc. of the year, my appreciation for the game and for the skill and the complexity of the game and the patients of the players, that’s really elevated.
Taika Waititi has never seen Ted Lasso or Welcome to Wrexham! I would officially like to offer Jason Seudekis, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds my condolences.
It’s no secret that Ted Lasso has become a cultural phenomenon, and is often considered the one of the best Apple TV+ shows to watch. The fact that Taika Waititi has successfully avoided it, especially when doing research for Next Goal Wins, is pretty shocking. Then there’s Welcome to Wrexham, another American television show taking the world by storm. It even publicly reunited Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and given that Taika has found success within the same universe as the two actors, one would think that he’d stumble across the show.
To his point, he comes from a rugby nation, and he may just be as ignorant towards European football as I am. He did, however, note that he believes Netflix’s Beckham to be the best documentary of the year. This would make sense, as the docuseries is more so focused on David Beckham’s personal life, his relationship with Victoria Beckham and the costly ways he kept their budding love afloat. So the man knows a ton about David Beckham, at this point, but not a lot about the sport itself.
Next Goal Wins does capture the heart and spirit of soccer, regardless. Despite Taika Waititi's honest assertion of his own lack of knowledge, he must have been working with the right people. Our own Eric Eisenberg referred to it as being “fun,” and “family-friendly” in his Next Goal Wins review, which is something of a departure for the irreverent filmmaker.
Even though he’s back to making originals, Waititi is still teasing his upcoming Star Wars film, so we’ll keep you updated as that progresses. In the meantime, drag your butt to a movie theater and see Next Goal Wins! Things are ramping up in Hollywood, and there’s plenty more to come down the rest of our 2023 release schedule.
