Movies

Taika Waititi works his crack-up magic on American Samoa's soccer story in new movie trailer

From underdogs to FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The trailer for Taika Waititi's 'Next Goal Wins' is finally out, and it features none other than NZ's very own Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Rachel House, Frankie Adams and Rhys Darby, among heaps of other Kiwi talent.

The flick is based on the 2014 documentary of the same name and tells the story of American Samoa's national football team and their journey to become FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The trailer starts with coach, Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), getting fired and sent to American Samoa for a new job coaching their national football team.

It's not as easy as he would think. A montage of the notoriously bad team losing game after game is shown and to make matters worse, they didn't even score a single goal.

But as the trailer continues we ask the question: With Rongen's guidance, can they turn things around and become champions?

I mean, who doesn't love a good underdog story? Seeing a team rise to the top despite all the odds stacked against them is truly inspiring.

Now, of course, this is a Taika Waititi film so it's a must to include a good chunk of his classic Kiwi humour.

When introducing his directorial role on the film, the trailer displays Taika's losses for Academy Awards as well as his loss for his Teen Choice Award for Thor: Ragnarok.

I mean, who else would win a freaking Oscar and think to display their losses instead, it's a classic Taika move that aligns perfectly with the message of the film - you've gotta love it!

The cast is also pretty impressive, with big names like Will Arnett, Elisabeth Moss, and David Fane joining Fassbender on screen. And let's not forget about Beulah Koale, Oscar Kightley, and Lehi Falepapalangi, who are sure to bring their A-game to the movie.

The film is set to release on November 17th, and I, for one, am excited to see how it all plays out.