Latest news with #BendItLikeBeckham
News.com.au
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Sad reason so many beloved movies and TV shows are being remade
Someone get out the David Beckham-sized bronzer tub. He's got a cameo to make. This week came news we didn't realise we needed so badly, that a sequel to 2002's surprise hit rom-com Bend It Like Beckham is in the works. The original made more than $100 million at the box office and only added to the Brand Beckham aura, so it seems impossible that Golden Balls himself won't good-naturedly sign on for some sort of guest part. Unfortunately, while Becks himself reapplies a certain teak deck-like shade of self-tanner, if you're looking for a sign the world is distinctly not okay right now, then ta da. The world's 90s and early aughts obsession is a massive red flag. The number of movie and TV remakes from that era has now reached a comical level. Just this week, photos surfaced showing the cast of The Devil Wears Prada sequel on set, looking like the last 19 years never happened as they shimmy back into their characters' costumes. There are sequels or reprisals of Clueless, The Bodyguard, Ghost, The Thomas Crown Affair, An Officer and A Gentleman, Anaconda, Ghost, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Single White Female in the pipeline. New I Know What You Did Last Summer, Final Destination, Freaky Friday and The Naked Gun are wither out or coming to cinemas soon. The Mean Girls and Twister follow-ups did brisk business. On TV screens, we are getting new Murder She Wrote, Malcolm In The Middle, One Tree Hill, Desperate Housewives and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The obvious move is to put it down to Hollywood laziness or the bankability of misty-eyed nostalgia. But I think it's actually a symptom of just how f**ked the world is right now. What this week's Bend It news confirms isn't that Hollywood ran out of ideas about the time they swore off gluten but how badly, how desperately, audiences are craving comfort right now. The characters, the formats and the worlds of Prada, of Clueless, of Buffy, are safe, familiar and unchallenging. To watch any of these is to catch up with old friends; it feels like slipping back on a favourite old pair of Levi 501s (they're back too). What these remakes are is perfectly-worn-in entertainment. You have to go back to the dark days of the 1930s to find a time in history when the world felt this bleak. It's impossible to open a news site or social media feed without being immediately immersed in horror, extreme suffering, unthinkable starvation, and unspeakable cruelty and violence. To learn about how AI is about to fillet the job market and whole economies. To read about the loneliness epidemic that no one has any idea how to treat. Is it any wonder then that we want the simple, uncomplicated pleasure of seeing a cow sucked up by a twister again? To see Andy Sachs being dressed down by a deliciously imperious Miranda Priestly once more? To spend two hours with soccer-mad Jess as she unironically makes her dreams come true? Emotionally, this tranche of 2.0 movies and TV shows is the equivalent of snuggling back down under the covers in your childhood bedroom and letting out a long slow exhale. We want - need - to cocoon ourselves in thoroughly known, uncomplicated plots and characters that don't demand anything of us; we want to be frictionlessly and immediately whisked away from reality. What also unites all these remakes is not just that they are sure-fire, bang-up, will-definitely work bits of IP but that they all hark back to a very particular period where the world looked golden. In about 2000 when Bend It writer Gurinder Chadha was sitting down at her computer - let's imagine it's a bulbous coloured plastic iMac - and started clacking out a script about a Sikh girl torn between her family's expectations and her love of soccer, Tony Blair was Prime Minister. Bill Clinton and his saxophone were still in the White House. The Camp David accord was being hashed out, the Good Friday agreement had created peace in Ireland after centuries of Troubles, and in New York's financial district the Twin Towers stood tall. Breakthrough AIDs drugs had hit the market, broadband had arrived and the Nokia 3310 was the hottest ticket. A GFC? Never heard of her. The world was fine, innit? Peace and stability reigned supreme. Economies were going gangbusters and the Iron Curtain had long since been torn down by the time Blair was covertly playing Snake in between budgetary briefings. No wonder the world is obsessed with the 90s and early 2000s right now. We all want to time-travel back to a period when the world felt safer, saner, and easier. This impulse goes far beyond movies and TV too. Low slung jeans, halter tops and platform thongs are back. Oasis has just sold out a stadium tour. In the US, staple 90s retailers like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch are experiencing sales resurgences, in the UK there has been a boom in sales in 90s chip flavours and in Australia, Allen's is bringing back single serve Killer Pythons. Data from from May showed an uptick in interest in throwback recipes like rissoles, beef stroganoff and pumpkin soup. Cheaper yes in a time of cost-of-living belt-tightening but, with the world looking in such a terrible way, who wants to sit down to sprouted buckwheat with a turmeric tahini drizzle? Pass the safe, soothing, uncomplicated stroganoff. More sour cream and Sarah Michelle Gellar? Yes please. Recently J urassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards talked about making the seventh outing in the dinosaur franchise and said, 'I wanted it to feel like a film they'd discovered from the early 90s.' Which is exactly how we want to feel too. Yes, with all the movies, there is also the base economics of it all too. Post pandemic, post 2023 Hollywood strike and in the age of the streaming wars, studios only want bankable surethings. Casual, movie-going has fallen away and getting bottoms onto cinema seats now increasingly means having to create a cultural moment or some sort of special event viewing. However, our appetite for remakes actually says something far bigger about our psychological needs right now. The day after the Bend It news broke came the absolute cherry-on-top, piece de resistance: Channel Ten is bringing back Big Brother. Bust out the bunny ears. Don't understand the reference? Ask your parents.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Bend It Like Beckham' sequel in the works, director Gurinder Chadha confirms: What we know so far
The announcement comes 23 years after the first film hit theaters. Yes, you did read that correctly: Bend It Like Beckham is getting a sequel. Two decades after Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley charmed audiences with their portrayals of teammates turned bestie footballers in West London, the film's director and cowriter, Gurinder Chadha, has confirmed that a second installment is officially in the works. Released in 2002, Bend It Like Beckham quickly became a cultural phenomenon. With Nagra as its lead, 18-year-old Jasminder 'Jess' Bhamra, the film functioned as a sort of love letter to football-obsessed England. It offered a thoughtful depiction of a young girl's dream of making it big in a male-dominated field, while also showcasing the realities of growing up in a traditional Sikh household and coming of age in the Indo-British diaspora. 'Let's hope we can bring back that same joy and feel good about putting women and girls on the map like we did 23 years ago,' Chadha told Deadline this week. From Chadha's confirmation to whether the original cast will be returning, here's everything we know (so far!) about the Bend It Like Beckham sequel. When was the sequel confirmed? Deadline broke the news on July 26 that a Bend It Like Beckham sequel is underway. Chadha was in Basel, Switzerland, at the time, for the Women's European Championship final, where the England women's soccer team won gold. The London filmmaker said her desire to bring a second Beckham film installment to fruition was influenced, in part, by the increased interest in women's soccer across the globe. 'Women's football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever,' she told Deadline. 'It is an honor for me to be a small part of it.' Chadha said she hadn't wanted to revisit the Bend It Like Beckham world until she came up with a good enough story that warranted it — which, she says she did 'just about a month ago.' Now, Chadha and her husband, Paul Mayeda Berges (with whom she cowrote the original), are working on the script. Chadha says she's also working 'collaboratively' with Emma Hayes, the new head coach of the U.S. women's national soccer team, to help bring the project to life. 'I'm excited to revisit the original characters and revive the enduring story and build on the legacy we helped to create for the women's game,' Chadha said. Is the original cast returning? Nagra and Knightley lit up the screen as costars back in the day, with some fans even hoping that their onscreen characters would turn out to be each other's romantic interests (they didn't, alas). Chadha told Deadline that Nagra, Knightley, Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson and other members of the original cast 'are aware that a sequel is being developed,' but they'll want to see a script before they actually commit. 'Everything hinges on the script and if the original cast likes it,' she said. 'I am working really hard to make sure every character I bring back has a decent arc and scenes.' Original Bend It Like Beckham cast members haven't spoken out about the news of the sequel yet. Knightley, however, previously shared her support for a follow-up to the original that explores a lesbian love story between Jess and Jules. 'F*** yeah! That would've been amazing. I think they should've been too,' Knightley told Pride Source in 2018. 'I think that would've been great. We need a sequel.' When can we see 'Bend It Like Beckham 2'? The goal, Chadha told Deadline, is to have the sequel ready for the original film's 25th anniversary in 2027, the same year that the FIFA Women's World Cup tournament is set to kick off in Brazil. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Bend It Like Beckham' sequel in the works, director Gurinder Chadha confirms: What we know so far
The announcement comes 23 years after the first film hit theaters. Yes, you did read that correctly: Bend It Like Beckham is getting a sequel. Two decades after Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley charmed audiences with their portrayals of teammates turned bestie footballers in West London, the film's director and cowriter, Gurinder Chadha, has confirmed that a second installment is officially in the works. Released in 2002, Bend It Like Beckham quickly became a cultural phenomenon. With Nagra as its lead, 18-year-old Jasminder 'Jess' Bhamra, the film functioned as a sort of love letter to football-obsessed England. It offered a thoughtful depiction of a young girl's dream of making it big in a male-dominated field, while also showcasing the realities of growing up in a traditional Sikh household and coming of age in the Indo-British diaspora. 'Let's hope we can bring back that same joy and feel good about putting women and girls on the map like we did 23 years ago,' Chadha told Deadline this week. From Chadha's confirmation to whether the original cast will be returning, here's everything we know (so far!) about the Bend It Like Beckham sequel. When was the sequel confirmed? Deadline broke the news on July 26 that a Bend It Like Beckham sequel is underway. Chadha was in Basel, Switzerland, at the time, for the Women's European Championship final, where the England women's soccer team won gold. The London filmmaker said her desire to bring a second Beckham film installment to fruition was influenced, in part, by the increased interest in women's soccer across the globe. 'Women's football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever,' she told Deadline. 'It is an honor for me to be a small part of it.' Chadha said she hadn't wanted to revisit the Bend It Like Beckham world until she came up with a good enough story that warranted it — which, she says she did 'just about a month ago.' Now, Chadha and her husband, Paul Mayeda Berges (with whom she cowrote the original), are working on the script. Chadha says she's also working 'collaboratively' with Emma Hayes, the new head coach of the U.S. women's national soccer team, to help bring the project to life. 'I'm excited to revisit the original characters and revive the enduring story and build on the legacy we helped to create for the women's game,' Chadha said. Is the original cast returning? Nagra and Knightley lit up the screen as costars back in the day, with some fans even hoping that their onscreen characters would turn out to be each other's romantic interests (they didn't, alas). Chadha told Deadline that Nagra, Knightley, Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson and other members of the original cast 'are aware that a sequel is being developed,' but they'll want to see a script before they actually commit. 'Everything hinges on the script and if the original cast likes it,' she said. 'I am working really hard to make sure every character I bring back has a decent arc and scenes.' Original Bend It Like Beckham cast members haven't spoken out about the news of the sequel yet. Knightley, however, previously shared her support for a follow-up to the original that explores a lesbian love story between Jess and Jules. 'F*** yeah! That would've been amazing. I think they should've been too,' Knightley told Pride Source in 2018. 'I think that would've been great. We need a sequel.' When can we see 'Bend It Like Beckham 2'? The goal, Chadha told Deadline, is to have the sequel ready for the original film's 25th anniversary in 2027, the same year that the FIFA Women's World Cup tournament is set to kick off in Brazil. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Five sports films that deserve a reboot now that Bend It Like Beckham 2 is in the works
It's been over 20 years since Bend it like Beckham hit our screens and with a sequel now confirmed, we've looked into five more films that fans are crying out for the same treatment. It's official - Bend It Like Beckham is getting a sequel. The news dropped after the Women's Euro final, with director Gurinder Chadha saying the time is finally right. She praised the Lionesses' incredible win and said she's ready to bring back the story that's meant so much to so many. First released in 2002, the film has remained a household favourite and the reboot is set to land in 2027, to mark its 25th anniversary and the FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. it comes after Chloe Kelly's husband was left speechless as Lionesses hero sends him a telling message. But while that one's in motion, here are five other sports films that deserve the same treatment. Love & Basketball (2000) This classic turned 25 this year, but it still continues to draw viewers in. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film's aim was to make a 'When Harry Met Sally' but a Black love version. We follow Monica and Q from childhood rivals to college ballers and eventually pros, all while navigating love, ambition, and everything in between. But fans have been asking the same thing for years, did their daughter ever make it to the WNBA like her mum? And how did Monica and Q's relationship really play out after the credits rolled? For more stories like this subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp, for a curated roundup of trending stories, poignant interviews, and viral lifestyle picks from The Mirror's Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox. Save the Last Dance (2001) Technically there is a sequel but Save the Last Dance 2 didn't have the original cast and essentially was a spin off, rather than a sequel - leaving us left with the same burning questions. We all want to know did Sara and Sean make it work long-term? Did Sara become the professional dancer she dreamed of being? And if a third sequel happens, we will have the answers and another steamy love film. Blue Crush (2002) This one was all about sisterhood, surfing, and defying expectations but also navigating love, money struggles and chasing big dreams. It had grit, but the male gaze kind of overshadowed the female empowerment angle, and a spin-off could change that. But beyond ruling out the male gaze, there are still questions that haven't been answered. Did Anne Marie's dream of her little sister Penny quitting smoking and going to college happen? Did Leena ever stop living through Anne Marie? Just Wright (2010) This film was released later than the others, however it was the perfect blend of love and sports as we saw physical therapist, Leslie Wright fall in love with a professional basketball player, Scott McKnight. It was a beautiful love story, but slightly rocky at the start but in the end we saw Leslie and Scott were finally married - but we need to know more, are they still together? Wimbledon (2004) This romcom doesn't get enough credit. It was sweet, served soft laughs , and showed the soft side of sport. The original followed a fading British player who falls in love with an American tennis star but in all honesty, it barely scratched the surface of the sport's real pressures and a second movie would do just that. But while we wait in the hope of these movies releasing a sequel, we know for certain Bend it like Beckham is coming back. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We'd love to hear from you!
Courier-Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
Sequel to Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz's beloved 90s rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding announced
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News. An Oscar nominated director has been hired to pen a sequel to classic 90s rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding. The original starring Cameron Diaz and Julia Roberts became a box office success upon its release in 1997, and has since gone on to be considered one of the most iconic films within its genre. It featured Roberts and Dermot Mulroney as Julianne and Michael, a pair of best friends who made a pact that if they were still single at age 28, they would get married. When Mulroney's character gets engaged to another women, played by Diaz, Roberts had just four days to stop the wedding. Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz in 1997 film My Best Friend's Wedding . Picture: Supplied. Director Celine Song, best known for her Oscar nominated romantic drama Past Lives, has been hired by Sony to write the script for the sequel. Song had another hit this year with follow-up The Materialists starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Official news of a sequel to My Best Friend's Wedding comes shortly after Mulroney revealed that 'there is talk of a sequel' during an interview with the New York Post. When asked about the potential for a follow-up, he said: 'I know nothing about it. Last I heard, quote, lawyers were talking, unquote.' The original was a big hit when it was released, earning $127 million in the US and three Golden Globe nominations in best musical and comedy, as well as acting nods for Roberts and Rupert Everett. The film was a big hit when it was released and has gone on to become an enduring classic in the genre. Picture: Supplied. It comes after it was announced that yet another classic movie is getting a sequel after more than two decades. Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha has confirmed she is working on a sequel to the hit 2002 film, which starred Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra. It will be released in 2027 in honour of Bend It Like Beckham's 25th anniversary and also to coincide with the FIFA Women's World Cup in Brazil. Chadha told the BBC she'd received requests for a follow-up 'almost twice a week' since the release of the original, which was made on a $7.2 million budget and became a box office hit, making around $120 million worldwide. '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,' she explained. It's not yet clear whether the new instalment will be a film or TV series, but Chadha said she hoped to reunite some of the original cast members. Originally published as Sequel to Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz's beloved 90s rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding announced
