Keira Knightley may be ready to revisit her breakout role as Jules in the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 2002 film, Bend It Like Beckham.
Director Gurinder Chadha confirmed the sequel is in development to Deadline, and said it was inspired by the global surge of women’s football.
Knightley has already started brainstorming plot ideas for her character, revealing her vision in a recent interview with British Vogue.
She suggested a competitive reunion for the two leads after discussing the return with Woman in Cabin 10 director Simon Stone:
“He was like, ‘Jules has got to be a coach now.’ I was like, ‘Right, but what’s happened to Jess?!’ He was like, ‘She’s the coach of the other team and they’ve got this rivalry going on.’”
Knightley, whose character Jules and Parminder Nagra‘s Jess won scholarships to Santa Clara University at the end of the original film, acknowledged the 25-year gap leaves room for major life changes.
She even touched on the fan speculation about her character’s relationship with Jess: “And are they together? Maybe they’ve split up and they get back together? I mean, who knows – 25 years is a long time, there’s so much that could have happened.”
Director Gurinder Chadha, who was motivated to develop the follow-up after seeing the Women’s European Championship final, is “pretty certain” the original cast will return, but noted they are waiting for a script before officially committing.
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