Soccer classic Bend it Like Beckham will be getting the stage treatment next summer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show will open at the West End's Phoenix Theater in June, and will follow the same basic story as the film, which featured a Punjabi Sikh girl — played by Parminder Nagra — who loves soccer but is not allowed to play.
"Developing Bend it Like Beckham for the stage has been the most enjoyable creative process of my career so far," said the musical's director Gurinder Chadha, who also curated the movie. "It was always my intention to build on the film and to present its themes and storylines to live audiences in an exciting new dynamic way. I believe we are presenting a totally new kind of musical - part West End, part London Punjabi, but whole-heartedly British."
A launching pad for star Keira Knightley, the movie won a Golden Globe in 2003 and THR points out it was the first Western film to appear on North Korean television.
Knightley was recently in a music-centric movie, Begin Again, which co-starred Maroon 5's Adam Levine.
"He's a pretty sexy dude," she told Advocate. "He's got a good body on him. He's also very funny, which is always the most attractive thing about anybody. He had so much energy that he was literally bouncing off the walls, so it was great fun to work with him. He had never acted before, so he was constantly going, 'Oh, I don't know how to do this.' He was a complete natural, of course, which is a bit annoying, really. But yeah, he certainly hasn't been left short in the looks department."
And Knightley even hinted at getting onstage herself.
"In my head, I would love to do a Broadway musical," she said. "I've always loved musicals - they're so fun - but I don't think I've got the voice that could do a Broadway musical. You need a big f---ing voice for one of those things."
