Netflix has released the official trailer, poster, and photos for The Beautiful Game, the new sports drama coming to the streaming service on March 29, 2024.
The Beautiful Game is rated PG-13 for some language, a suggestive reference, brief partial nudity, and drug references.
Bill Nighy (Living, About Time, Love Actually) plays Mal, a manager of England’s homeless football team. Mal takes his players to Rome with the hope of being crowned champions of the Homeless World Cup, a global street soccer tournament.
At the last minute, he decides to bring with them a talented striker, Vinny (Micheal Ward, Empire of Light, The Book of Clarence), who could give them a real chance at winning, but only if he’s ready to let go of his past and become part of the team.
Made with the support of the Homeless World Cup, The Beautiful Game is a film of second chances – where homeless teams from around the world find that all roads lead to Rome, and everything’s to play for.
The cast also includes Susan Wokoma, Callum Scott Howells, Kit Young, Sheyi Cole, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Robin Nazari, Aoi Okuyama, Cristina Rodlo, Tadashi Watanabe, Kazuhiro Muroyama, and Valeria Golino.
Thea Sharrock (Me Before You, Wicked Little Letters) directed the movie from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
The producers include Blueprint Pictures’ Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin & Ben Knight with Anita Overland and Colin Farrell. The executive producers are Diarmuid McKeown, Claudine Farrell, and Ollie Madden, as well as Daniel Battsek for Film4.
The Homeless World Cup Foundation was established in 2001, with the first Homeless World Cup taking place in Graz, Austria, in 2003. The Foundation’s mission is to use football to support and inspire people who are homeless to change their own lives and to change perceptions and attitudes towards people who are experiencing homelessness. The 2024 Homeless World Cup will take place in Seoul, S Korea.
It operates a Global Network, bringing together 70 member countries that are using football to tackle homelessness and social isolation in their community. The organization provides a focus for – and a celebration of – their year-round activity with the Homeless World Cup, a landmark international street football tournament.
The tournament has taken place in cities all over the world, such as Cape Town, Cardiff, Melbourne, Edinburgh, Paris, Rio and Mexico City. The most recent edition took place in Sacramento, California, in July 2023.
It also supports their Member Countries’ day-to-day work by building international connections, facilitating skill sharing, and helping Members to develop. Giving them the tools, skills, and platform they need to change their lives and the lives of those around them.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.