{"id":298372,"date":"2025-07-28T11:43:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/298372\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:43:17","slug":"bend-it-like-beckham-sequel-in-works-more-than-20-years-after-first-film-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/298372\/","title":{"rendered":"Bend It Like Beckham sequel in works more than 20 years after first film"},"content":{"rendered":"

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More than two decades after Bend It Like Beckham<\/a> first inspired a generation of female footballers<\/a>, a sequel to the smash hit is in the works, the film\u2019s director has said. <\/p>\n

Speaking in Basel on the eve of England\u2019s Euro\u202f2025 final<\/a> against Spain<\/a>, Gurinder Chadha OBE revealed that a follow\u2011up is in development, with a target release in 2027 to mark both the film\u2019s 25th anniversary and the\u202fFIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil<\/a>. The format, whether a feature film or television series, has yet to be decided.<\/p>\n

Ms Chadha says she has fielded requests for a sequel almost twice a week since 2002 but has been waiting until the right story came to her. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 23 years and being unable to come up with a storyline that was as good as the original, I have finally found a fantastic story for a Bend It Like Beckham follow up,\u201d she told The Guardian. <\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s football is more competitive, more exciting and more global than ever. It is an honour for me to be a small part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KingKing Charles III with Gurinder Chadha during a reception to mark the centenary of the Film and TV charity, at Buckingham Palace, London (Aaron Chown\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n

She hopes to reunite Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley<\/a> and the rest of the original cast, and suggested members of England\u2019s current Lionesses would be \u201cqueuing up\u201d for cameo roles. <\/p>\n

Chadha has also enlisted US women\u2019s national team manager Emma\u202fHayes as a collaborator on the new script, drawing on her experience both on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n

Released in 2002 on a budget of \u00a33.5\u202fmillion, Bend It Like Beckham went on to gross almost \u00a360\u202fmillion worldwide and is widely credited with inspiring a generation of female footballers.<\/p>\n

Lisa\u202fNandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who will attend Sunday\u2019s final with Ms Chadha, described the announcement as \u201ca brilliant moment for British film\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cBend It Like Beckham captured something so special about Britain, our spirit, our diversity, and our ability to dream big in the face of challenge. Gurinder Chadha gave us a story that resonated far beyond the screen and became part of our cultural DNA,\u201d Ms Nandy said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe announcement of a follow up is a brilliant moment for British film. It builds on a legacy that continues to inspire and shows the world what British storytelling can do. Productions like this help tell our national story, remind us who we are, and who we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-298372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114930687015903241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}