Taika Waititi’s soccer pic ‘Next Goal Wins’ set for Toronto Film Festival premiere

Taika Waititi’s soccer comedy “ Next Goal Wins ” may have its world premiere on the Toronto International Film Festival this fall, organizers mentioned Wednesday.

The Searchlight Pictures movie is predicated on a real story and stars Michael Fassbender as a Dutch-American soccer coach assigned to assist the struggling American Samoa nationwide crew in its quest to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The crew at that time was finest recognized for struggling the worst loss in worldwide soccer historical past – a 31 to 0 recreation towards Australia in 2001.

Waititi and co-writer Iain Morris primarily based the movie off of a 2014 British documentary of the identical identify, from Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, which chronicled the comeback try. The new movie additionally stars Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, Will Arnett and Elisabeth Moss.

“Next Goal Wins” is the primary main Hollywood movie this 12 months to stake its declare on the busy fall movie competition season, the place many studios debut awards hopefuls. Waititi’s final movie to premiere at Toronto, “Jojo Rabbit,” went on to win the very best screenplay award on the Oscars. TIFF’s forty eighth version runs from Sept. 7 to Sept. 17.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Taika back to the festival and share his audacious take on the most popular sport in the world,” mentioned TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey in an announcement. “’Next Goal Wins’ is perfect for TIFF fans of the beautiful game looking for their football fix until the 2024 World Cup arrives.”