Netflix knows how to treat its fans right after confirming one of the most popular British films ever made will be added soon – just days after its sequel was announced.
In 2002, director Gurinder Chadha blessed the world with Bend It Like Beckham, which inspired a whole generation of girls to get involved with football.
It tells the story of British Indian girl Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), who is trying to pursue her football dream, inspired by David Beckham, in the face of parental disapproval.
Along the way she finds best friend Jules (Keira Knightley in her breakout role) and a possible love interest in her coach Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).
The cast also included Archie Panjabi, Anupam Kher and even former All Saints star Shaznay Lewis.
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Its fans brand Bend It Like Beckham ‘one of the greatest movies ever’, with critics at the time calling it ‘a joyous ride all the way’ and an ‘enjoyably shameless confection’.
Following Chadha confirming that a sequel is now officially in the works, Netflix UK took to Instagram to reveal that the original film would be attended to the platform for British fans on August 15.
‘One of the greatest feel-good movies ever made,’ enthused former film critic Emily Blunt at the time, while the Philadelphia Inquirer went one step further, claiming: ‘No mere feel-good movie, it’s a feel-great movie.’
Others were charmed by the energy and vibrant charm of Bend It Like Beckham too, with Empire’s Alan Morrison writing: ‘Delightfully upbeat, it will send you back out onto the street grinning from ear to ear.’
‘You seldom leave a theatre walking on air, much less float all through a movie. But the joyous Bend It Like Beckham never lets you down,’ agreed the Washington Post’s review, while the BBC’s Jamie Russell observed: ‘It’s the kind of film that’ll have the whole audience clapping by the time the credit sequence outtakes appear.’
British Netflix fans were thrilled to see that Bend it Like Beckham will be available to stream soon too.
‘I love this film! I keep telling my husband he needs to see it. And now he can!’ commented fan Tammy Levy.
‘I have to watch this again stat,’ added Emma Slade Edmondson.
‘Ah yessss can’t wait love this film!’ agreed Natasha Carter, while Tamara Carter shared: ‘Brings back so many memories absolutely loved this film.’
Chadha first spoke about considering a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham in October 2023, revealing she had been inspired by the Lioness’s record-breaking success at the 2023 World Cup, where they reached the final.
‘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.’
Chadha hopes to schedule the sequel’s release for 2027, not only to coincide with the original movie’s 25th anniversary but with the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Brazil too.
‘We’ve been part of changing the game for women, so it felt like this was a good time for me to go back and investigate the characters,’ she said to the BBC.
The London-based director added to Deadline: ‘I’m excited to revisit the original characters and revive the enduring story and build on the legacy we helped to create for the women’s game.’
She confirmed that Nagra, Knightley, Punjabi, Juliet Stevenson and other cast members ‘are aware that a sequel is being developed, but they obviously want to see a script before they commit’.
She also added that members of the current England squad would be ‘queuing up’ to take on cameo roles.
Bend It Like Beckham is streaming on Netflix in the UK from August 15.
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