Film Debut
Monday, November 8, 2004

David Beckham is to make his feature film debut. The England captain is to play himself in Goal, the $100m trilogy which stars Y Tu Mama Tambien's Diego Luna.

"It's no secret that I want to be involved in youth coaching when I finally hang up my boots, and I believe that the 'Goal' trilogy will provide a positive message to kids around the world," said Beckham.

Variety's Michael Fleming reports that Beckham and fellow Real Madrid superstars Zinedine Zidane and Raul have all agreed to play themselves in the three installments of "Goal!", which is directed by Danny Cannon.

The film stars Luna as a major footballing talent who joins Newcastle United and the actor has spent time training with the team. The script has recently had what Variety calls a "polish" from British writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and filming starts in January.

Of course Goal is not the first movie about soccer to have reached the big screen and few have been particularly successful. But there are high expectations for this set of films, which will use footage from Newcastle and Real Madrid matches as well as the 2006 World Cup.

Many sponsors including Adidas and Coca Cola, are apparently already working on campaigns built around the films.

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