Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha has teased that she is considering making a sequel to the 2002 classic.
The film is beloved for its focus on women's football, as well as showcasing British-Asian culture, but Chadha has been hesitant to make a follow-up (musical version aside). That is, until the the Lionesses achieved incredible success at the World Cup.
Speaking to Metro, she spoke about how the last few years have inspired her to perhaps pick up the story again.
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"With all this talk of the World Cup and the popularity of women's football, in the past I haven't thought about [Bend It Like Beckham 2]," she said.
"I never really wanted to make a sequel to the film because I just thought the way Parminder [Nagra] and Keira [Knightley] 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."
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In a full-circle moment, Chadha spoke about how many of the professional female footballers told her that the film inspired them into the sport. Meanwhile, the director has been honoured with a star on the BFI's Walk of Stars installation at London's Southbank.
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"I feel like with all these accolades, and particularly the star, I feel like my audience around the world deserve a little taster of something," she added of a new football-focused project.
"So, I'm looking at doing something that will be kind of in celebration of the film and the audience around the world who've loved it."
Bend It Like Beckham can be streamed for free with a subscription on Disney+, Lionsgate+, Prime Video or MUBI.
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
