Bend It Like Beckham director confirms long-awaited sequel
A sequel to hit 2002 comedy film Bend It Like Beckham is in the works, its director has confirmed.
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A sequel to Bend It Like Beckham, which is credited with inspiring a generation of women to take up football, will be released in 2027, said the films director Gurinder Chadha.
The sequel could be another film, or may even be a TV series, the director said.
Chadha, who also directed the 2002 film, confirmed the sequel in Basel, Switzerland on Saturday, where the England Women's team are preparing to take on Spain in Sunday's Euro 2025 final.
"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 said.
"A lot has changed since the original movie, but I think that people still don't think that women should play football," Chadha told the BBC.
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"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."
The director said she hoped the sequel would star not only the original cast, but members of the current Lioness squad in cameo roles.
Chadha said she had not expected the original film to be so successful, and that her intention had been "uplift girls, girls who grew up like me, who were always being told how to dress, how to look, what to say, what not to say."
"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. I think there's still stuff to say, and stuff to challenge."
Bend It Like Beckham starred Parminder Nagra as 18-year-old Jesminder Bhamra, the daughter of British Indian Punjabi Sikhs, who dreams of playing professional football.
Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers also co-starred in the 2002 comedy-drama, set in Hounslow in West London, which grossed almost £60million at the box office on a budget of just £3.5million.