Bend It Like Beckham Heads For Stateside Success

British soccer comedy movie Bend It Like Beckham has become a surprise box
office hit in America - taking $2.7 million in its first few weeks of
release.

Movie analysts now predict the film, about a female sports star inspired
by English soccer heart-throb David Beckham, could become a major sleeper hit
in the States, much like 2002 comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding which eventually
scooped $225
million (GBP150 million).

Bend it like Beckham, which stars British actresses Parminder Nagra and
Star Wars: EPISODE ONE star Keira Knightley, has been helped in a country where
soccer is still only a fringe sport, by generous reviews.

TIME magazine called it the "brightest, funniest and most refreshing"
film of the year, and Entertainment Weekly described it as "funny, buoyant and
exhilarating".

Much to the delight of distributors FOX SEARCHLIGHT.

Spokeswoman NANCY UTLEY says, "It's soccer, it's girls, and it's got
English accents. Conventionally, any of them would be a challenge. But the
movie delivers."