Caroline Rowland, the director behind the official London 2012 film First is currently in talks to make a film about the revival of the New York Cosmos. The working title for the proposed film is, naturally, Twice In A Lifetime, a reference to the fantastic 2006 documentary Once In A Lifetime that told the story of the rise and fall of the original Cosmos franchise. Once In A Lifetime was about Pele, Chinaglia, Beckenbauer, Steve Ross, etc. Twice In A Lifetime will be about…Paul Kemsley? I guess Cantona maybe?

The current state of the Cosmos, preparing for their actual revival as a real soccer team that plays soccer in America’s second division next year, doesn’t exactly sound like fodder for a glamorous doc in the vein of Once In A Lifetime. Sure, Kemsley burned through money like Monty Brewster, but the only other personalities involved at the time were Cantona (a big personality, admittedly, but I’m not sure King Eric was on the scene all that much) and..Cobi Jones. I love Cobi Jones, but he’s not exactly Chinaglia.

Pele was (still is, I assume) “Honorary Chairman”, which means he’s been in New York wearing Cosmos gear once. No joy there, and he won’t go on camera unless he’s paid anyway.

Maybe in the hands of the right director, there is a story to be told here. Maybe having lived through the “new Cosmos” era to this point makes me cynical about how good the story could be. Maybe the formation of a team with real live players preparing to enter the modern namesake NASL will add enough intrigue to make it interesting.

Source: Screen Daily