'Next Goal Wins' Trailer: Michael Fassbender Stars as Down-on-His-Luck Soccer Coach in Taika Waititi's Next Movie

By Brian Jones - April 26, 2023 06:24 pm EDT

Taika Waititi has a new movie and it's all about soccer. Searchlight Pictures released the trailer for Next Goal Wins, a film based on the 2014 documentary of the same name. Michael Fassbender stars in Next Goal Wins and plays Thomas Rongen a soccer coach who looks to make the American Samoa national soccer team into champions. The film takes place after the team suffered a 31-0 loss in 2001.

Next Goal Wins also stars Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, Uli Latukefu, Rhys Darby, Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Lehi Falepapalangi, Semu Filipo, Rachel House, Angus Sampson, Frankie Adams, Beulah Koale, Sisa Grey, Russell Satele, Karim Benz, and Chris Aloso. Variety reported in 2019 that Kaimana, a fa'afafine non-binary actor, will portray Jaiyah Saelua, the first non-binary player to compete in a men's FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Waititi directed the film and also wrote the script with Iain Morris. He is also a producer along with Brett Jamison, Garrett Basch and Jonathan Cavendish. Production began in November 2019 and finished in 2020. The reason for the delay is reshoots were held after Arnett replaced Armie Hammer. Here's a look at the trailer and fan reactions.

The Trailer

One person wrote on YouTube: "Taika Waitit needs to do more projects like this, more indie projects instead of big studio controlled franchise."

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Looking Great

this looks great! https://t.co/5cusVh1pKP
— jimmy (@j_frechzinaer) April 26, 2023

Another person on YouTube commented: "FINALLY! Only been waiting multiple years since it wrapped production. Hope this is a return to form for Taika."

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Looks Funny

Ngl this was kinda funny https://t.co/2oTBVjM6hL pic.twitter.com/IqOasKFUyl
— Brian (@midsommarz) April 26, 2023

One YouTuber said: "This seems to have a similar feel to it as Hunt For The Wilder-people which I really like. The further Taika gets away from love and thunder, the better."

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Interesting Question

Between Wrexham, Ted Lasso, and this, what is this obsession with white men being uncharacteristically placed in charge of a football team? Is this FIFA’s Hollywood push to popularize football in the states, or are Americans just all of a sudden pretending they care about footbal https://t.co/bDVjR9Eh8R
— themattparks (@N0T4NDY5AMBERG) April 26, 2023

One YouTuber wrote: "Now this seems like a return to form and looks like so much fun. Hope it's as good as Hunt for the Wilderpeople."

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Strong Cast

looks nice.

I like fassbender. It’s got Elisabeth Moss – she looks very pretty as a blonde https://t.co/NRcszKAeJT
— reilly (@GoodPostReilly) April 26, 2023

Another YouTube commenter said: "Great to finally see the trailer. The doc was brilliant and I've been looking forward to the narrative adaptation for a while."

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So Down!

Oh. I'm down for this. https://t.co/xlSMkpoXWX
— Eda the Owl Lady, but Transgender. (@KaijuNellie) April 26, 2023

One person on YouTube said: "Everyone go watch the documentary this is based on! It is quite great. Can't wait for this!"

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He's Back!

MICHAEL FASSBENDER IS BACK I WILL BE THERE NO MATTER WHAT🙏🙏🙏🙏 https://t.co/dlRooNcJva
— Nick Poulimenakos (@NickMenakos) April 26, 2023

And this person wrote on YouTube: "Taika should stop with the superhero movies and make more of these: comedy movies with heart-wrenching moments."

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