Earlier this week, it was revealed that Taika Waititi would be working on a new project before directing Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth installment of the Thor franchise within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As of yesterday, all we knew was that Waititi was set to write and direct a movie for Fox Searchlight (which is owned by Marvel parent Disney). Now, a source close to the project has revealed it’ll be a narrative adaptation of the documentary, Next Goal Wins.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The movie will be produced by Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Garrett Basch, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, and Waititi, who will be writing the project with Iain Morris.
Imaginarium Productions, a digital performance-capture studio founded by Serkis and Cavendish in 2011, optioned the rights to Next Goal Wins, a documentary that was directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison back in 2014. The film followed the American Samoa soccer team and their Dutch coach, Thomas Rongen, as he attempted “the nearly impossible task” of transforming the team into “perennial losers into winners.”
Waititi has already established a good relationship with Fox Searchlight, having teamed with the studio for Jojo Rabbit, his upcoming anti-hate satire about a young boy in World War II-era Germany. In the film, Waititi plays the child’s imaginary friend, Adolph Hitler.
In addition to his upcoming films, Waititi also directed an episode of Disney+’s new Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, which is expected to premiere on the new streaming service in November.
Are you excited for Next Goal Wins? Tell us in the comments!
Jojo Rabbit hits theaters on October 18, 2019, and Thor: Love and Thunder is set for November 5, 2021. Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021.
