Similar to the fast-talking role he played in last year’s Marty Supreme, four-time Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet stars as a street hustler in Adidas’ brand film about soccer, “Backyard Legends.”
“Everyone remembers that feeling: playing for the joy of it, no pressure, no expectations. With ‘Backyard Legends,’ we celebrate that freedom,” said Florian Alt, vice president, global brand communications, Adidas, in a statement. “It’s a reminder that self-belief and playfulness are the real winning mindset. While we encourage competitiveness, our ambition is to inspire everyone, to disarm that pressure through playing free and believing, ‘You Got This.’”
The five-minute film – which features such global soccer stars as Inter Miami CF’s Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Washington Spirit’s Trinity Rodman (daughter of NBA legend Dennis Rodman) – sets the stage ahead of this summer’s FIFA Men’s World Cup. The tournament will be played across cities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico between June 11 and July 19. Adidas serves as the official match ball provider and kit supplier to 14 of the federations playing in the global tourney and, of course, shows up frequently on shirts and hats throughout the piece.
The film starts with Chalamet gathering his “dream team” of Yamal, Bellingham and Rodman, taking a minute to poke some fun at the rivalry between Yamal and Bellingham, who each play for Spanish teams. Prior to getting in the car, Chalamet is talking on his mobile phone to someone he calls “Benito,” telling him to “tell Leo, this whole thing ends today.” Once we arrive at the match, we learn that these two are no other than Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio – aka Bad Bunny – and Lionel Messi, “arguably the greatest player on the planet.”
While driving to the match, Chalamet tells the trio a story about a neighborhood team of three – Clive, Ruthie and Isaak – who have not been beaten for decades. Not even the 90s super squad of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero – all of whom appear in the film as de-aged versions of themselves from that time period – could defeat the three local kids on their home pitch.
Besides that iconic trio, true soccer fans will recognize cameos from Balon D’or winner Ousmane Dembélé as well as Raphinha, Pedri, Florian Wirtz and Santiago Gimenez, none of whom are sure if they can believe the legend of the backyard game.
As the film concludes and the ball drops into play, the message “You Got This” flashes across the screen.
“I used to dream of playing with these guys - you know, I was playing at Pier 40 as a kid, thinking about Beckham’s free kicks, Del Piero’s goals, and Zidane’s volleys – doing my own versions. I love this game, so it’s unbelievable to be doing this with Adidas, captured with the best to ever do it. I’m a traditionalist, I don’t know soccer, I know football, and I can’t wait for this summer’s World Cup,” said Chalamet, also in a statement.
The film was created for Adidas by newly formed Omnicom agency Lola USA, which emerged from the merging of adam&eveDDB New York and 180 US, and produced by Smuggler, which has a relationship with Messi.
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