The millennial nostalgia is still going strong. After sequels for Devil Wears Prada, Practical Magic and Freaky Friday, to name but a few, another Y2K update is coming our way — and it's a good one. Yes, Bend It Like Beckham 2 is finally happening.
Gurinder Chadha, the director of the 2002 classic broke the news to Deadline. “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,” she said.
A true Y2K British classic, Bend It Like Beckham was the film that brought women's football into the spotlight; the film that featured a young Keira Knightley looking like she was cosplaying as Jack Grealish' the film that gave us such lines as, “Lesbian? Her birthday's in March. I thought she was a Pisces," and “Anyone can cook aloo gobi, but who can bend a ball like Beckham?”
While the whole Y2K sequel thing can be a little controversial, Bend It Like Beckham is one teen classic that absolutely deserves a 2025 update. After all, a lot has changed in the world of professional women's football in the last two decades.
There are still so many battles to be fought in the women’s game, and the Lionesses are fighting them.
In Chadha's 2002 film, Parminder Nagra stars as Jess, a young British-Indian girl with dreams of being a footballer. Although she happens to meet Jules (Keira Knightley), a member of amateur women's team the Hounslow Harriers, that is pretty much the limit of their football careers in the UK at the time. As a giddy Jules tells Jess in one scene, in America, women can actually get paid to play. The idea! After some difficult conversations with her family, the film ends with Jess leaving the UK behind to study in America along with Jules, where they will hopefully, forge professional careers in the sport.
This week alone is a reminder that a lot has changed in the UK when it comes to women's football. After all, the British women's team have just won the Euros, retaining their title from 2022. The sport is becoming more and more popular as, although there's still a long way to go, more and more equal. A sequel to Bend It Like Beckham will be an amazing opportunity to reflect on how far its come — and how far we still need to go.
What will Bend It Like Beckham 2 be about?
We don't know too much about the plot of the potential sequel yet — but we can hazard a few guesses. The first film ended with Jess and Jules leaving for America. They left their former coach, Joe, behind in the UK.
Chadra explained that she does have some plans for a “good story” up her sleeve. “I didn’t want to do anything because I didn’t have a story,” she said. "And then I came up with a great story, really super-cool story. So now I’m inspired. Literally came up with it just about a month ago. It’s my very clear wish to bring the characters back very, very soon. Women’s football is more competitive, more exciting, and more global than ever.It is an honour for me to be a small part of it.”
Chadra has reportedly teamed up with Emma Hayes, who became head coach of the U.S. women’s national football team this year.
Hayes explained that Bend It Like Beckham has had a “massive impact” on her life. “I was Keira Knightley in Bend It. I cried in the cinema watching the film because I felt just like Jess and Jules,” she said, adding, ”There was no hope for women’s football in Britain then so I was going to the States to try my luck. Twenty three years ago I could never have dreamed of how much that film changed the women’s game and now I have the best job in the world-head coach of the U.S. Women’s national team."
For a film celebrating the rise of F1, it’s a shame it sidelined the women who helped fuel it.
One thing we do know is that the sequel will aim to capture the same spirit as the original. The film “was about lifting up girls and saying, ‘You can do and you can be anything you want even though society dictates what you can and can’t do,’ and that message is still relevant today, even though we have women and women’s soccer sides so huge around the world," Chadra said. "The film’s been part of that legacy, and I feel there’s more that I can do. So that’s what I’m writing and that’s what I’m focusing on. It will be hard-hitting, of course, but it will also be incredibly joyous.
“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.”
Who will star in the Bend It Like Beckham sequel?
No cast members have been confirmed yet, but Chadra is hopeful that many of the original actors will return to reprise their roles.
They “are aware that a sequel is being developed, but they obviously want to see a script before they commit," she said, adding, “I’m pretty certain that everyone’s going to want to come back."
That could include Nagra and Knightley as well as Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Joe, Archie Panjabi as Pinky and Juliet Stevenson as Paula, to name a few.
Is there a Bend It Like Beckham 2 release date yet?
Although the script hasn't been written and the film hasn't been confirmed, Chadra is hoping to aim for a 2027 release to mark the 25th anniversary of Bend it Like Beckham’s initial 2002 UK opening. Notably, it will be a key year for women's football, with the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament playing out in Brazil that summer.
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