Announcing trilogies right out of the gate is a risky gambit that’s typically restricted to the realm of effects-heavy blockbusters, so it was natural that more than a few quizzical eyebrows were raised when Goal! The Dream Begins was touted as the first of a three-film saga tracing Kuno Becker’s Santiago Muñez from the streets of Los Angeles to the top of the soccer world.
Of course, it would have been received much better had the opening installment proven to be an unequivocal success, but it wasn’t. In fact, it wasn’t even close. Somehow, the film still got those two sequels rounding out the story, with the critical and commercial returns diminishing each time around to anoint Goal! as one of the most forgotten triptychs of 21st Century cinema.
The Dream Begins failed to recoup its $33 million budget from theaters and took a substantial critical pounding, while middle chapter Living the Dream fared even worse. Even though it was over three times cheaper at just $10 million, it didn’t even reach $8 million in ticket sales, due partly to the fact it didn’t score a wide big screen release anywhere other than the United Kingdom.
Disney subsidiary Buena Vista ditched the property altogether for conclusion Taking on the World, which didn’t feature any returning cast members at all other than leading man Becker, and it was quietly shuffled out into the VOD wilderness and left to die on the vine. It was remarkable that Goal! even managed to reach the finish line, but it might just be on the cusp of a comeback.
Per FlixPatrol, The Dream Begins has reappeared as one of the most-watched titles on Chili’s global charts, although with the soccer season in Europe drawing to a close over the next few weeks, maybe viewers are simply looking for a quick fix to tide them over.
