Timber
Zoey Deutch (Nouvelle Vague) has landed the lead role in The 99’ers, the forthcoming U.S. Women’s Soccer drama to be directed for Netflix by Emmy winner Nicole Kassell.
Deutch will play Marla Messing, the trailblazing U.S. Women’s soccer executive who oversaw the massively successful 1999 World Cup tournament that set attendance and TV viewership records. She reteams with Netflix after starring as Jean Seberg in Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, a role that earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance, as well as in the upcoming Voicemails For Isabelle and Set It Up opposite Glen Powell.
Watch on Deadline
As we previously reported, People We Meet on Vacation‘s Emily Bader will also star in the film, as legendary soccer star Mia Hamm.
The 99’ers is based on the 2000 HarperPerennial book The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed the World by Jeré Longman. The story catches up with 1990s U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in 1999, as they defy the odds to emerge victorious in a dramatic penalty kick shootout against China in the World Cup final, under the scorching summer sun and in a stadium filled with 93,000 fans. This monumental win captivated millions worldwide and forever altered the course of women’s sports.
Script is by Katie Lovejoy (Love at First Sight, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before 3), Dana Stevens (The Woman King, Fatherhood), and Peter Hedges (Ben Is Back). Jill Mazursky and Jamee Decio were the first writers on the project. Liza Chasin is producing for 3Dot Productions — the company behind chart-topper The Life List, which has a deal at Netflix — alongside Hayley Stool and Ross Greenburg, with Marla Messing, Jill Mazursky, and Krista Smith exec producing.
Deutch has been in Park City over the weekend in support of Gail Daughtry’s Celebrity Sex Pass, the new Sundance comedy from filmmaker David Wain, where she stars alongside Jon Hamm, John Slattery, and more. Most recently seen in Lionsgate/Fifth Season’s acclaimed thriller Anniversary, as well as The Threesome, which she also exec produced, her next film coming up is the Netflix rom-com Voicemails for Isabelle. She is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.