Bend It Like Beckham director says sequel in the works

The film, which starred Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra and Johnathan Rhys-Meyers, is widely credited with inspiring a generation of women to play soccer, and director Gurinder Chadha thinks now is the perfect moment to launch a sequel.

"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," the 65-year-old filmmaker told the BBC.

The England women's soccer team has enjoyed significant success in recent years and is currently preparing to take on Spain in the final of Euro 2025.

Chadha says attitudes towards women's soccer have changed since the first movie, but admits more progress is needed.

"A lot has changed since the original movie, but I think that people still don't think that women should play football," she says.

"There are people who still don't take it seriously, although the Lionesses are riding high.

"I've left it a while, but I thought: look at the Euros, look at the Lionesses."

Chadha hopes the sequel will spread a positive message and "challenge" stereotypes.

"What I did was say you can do what you want, and you can have it all, and I think that's a really great message to put out again," she says.

"I think there's still stuff to say, and stuff to challenge."

Bend It Like Beckham proved to be a big moment in Keira Knightley's career, but the actress previously revealed that her friends scoffed at the idea of making the movie.

During an appearance on The Tonight Show, she told host Jimmy Fallon: "I literally remember telling people I was doing it and it's called Bend It Like Beckham, and them going, 'Oh that's really embarrassing'. And they were all like, 'Don't worry. Nobody will see it. It's fine.'"

Knightley noted that "women's soccer was not as big" in 2002 as it is now, and so her friends assumed that the movie would flop at the box office.

"Women's soccer was not as big back then, and so the idea of the whole thing was sort of ridiculous," she says.

Despite this, the film proved its doubters wrong, earning more than $70 million at the box office and even inspiring a musical adaptation.

And Knightley - who also starred in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise - is still constantly reminded of her role in the movie by fans.

"It's amazing because it's still the film even today, you know, if someone comes up to talk to me about my work, it's that one," she says.

"It's so loved. It's amazing."

Australian Associated Press