Festival Predictions

2022 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins

Published on November 23, 2021

2021 came and went and yet New Zealand’s Taika Waititi didn’t see his latest hit the fest circuit – perhaps it has to do with the busy shoot for Thor: Love and Thunder, the multiple future other projects or Searchlight postponing the project. Next Goal Wins features Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Kaimana, Rachel House, Rhys Darby and what we imagine is not a digitally erased Armie Hammer. Production took place in November of 2019 and it’s based on a 2014 documentary of the same name by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison.

Gist: Written by Iain Morris and Taika Waititi, Story of the American Samoa soccer team, who suffered the worst loss in World Cup history, losing to Australia 31-0 in 2001. With the 2014 World Cup approaching, the team recruits a down on his luck, maverick coach (Fassbender) to help turn their fate around.

Production Co./Producers: Garrett Basch, Jonathan Cavendish, Taika Waititi.

Prediction: PREMIERES.

U.S. Distributor: Searchlight Pictures.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).