Netflix Developing 1999 Women’s Soccer Team Film

Sports fans are getting antsy with no live programming and no games to attend. They’ve tuned into Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance docuseries and watched a Horse basketball tournament in place of March Madness, and ESPN even aired Cornhole Mania last weekend, showing a sport relegated to backyard barbecues and beach days to an audience more accustomed to seeing home runs and touchdowns.

But now, Netflix is stepping up to fill the sports void in their own way by letting viewers relive one of the greatest victories in recent sports history. The streaming service announced today that they’re creating a film based on the 1999 U.S. Women’s Soccer World Cup championship, The Wrap reports.

Netflix is adapting Jere Longman’s book “The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed The World” for the upcoming project, which focuses on the team and their July 1999 victory against China in the FIFA World Cup. The legendary team that led the U.S. to victory that season includes Mia Hamm, Carla Overbeck, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Briana Scurry. As part of Netflix’s deal, they also acquired the life rights of eight players.

Liza Chasin — who worked on Baby Driver, Darkest Hour and Love Actually — will produce the upcoming film as part of her first-look deal with Netflix.

In a blog post announcing the film, Tendo Nagenda, Vice President of Netflix Films, explained the importance of the film beyond providing some much-needed sports content to fans. “[The victory] led to more funding and recognition for women’s soccer around the world, including helping establish the first professional North American women’s soccer league,” she wrote. “But most importantly, it started important conversations about gender in sports – propelling women’s leagues forward all over the world, and inspiring an entire generation of young girls to dream bigger, thus paving the way for Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and so many others to aspire to represent Team USA.”

HBO previously covered the 1999 U.S. Women’s Soccer team with the 2005 documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team. Netflix’s new project will focus entirely on the 1999 team, while HBO’s film was about the history of the program as a whole.