Oh tennis, you're a pleasant sport and all, but no thank you. Your need to have me run here, there and everywhere on a hard court while spectators follow your bouncing ball like some mesmerized human metronome is simply not my idea of a good time. You see, I've got a heart condition, from the result of two open-heart surgeries, and there's no way I'm dropping dead on your court for the sake or exercise or entertainment. You know who is interested in picking up a racket though? I'll tell you, actors Steve Carell and Emma Stone for the upcoming film BATTLE OF THE SEXES.
That's right, sports fans, Fox Searchlight has marked the date of September 22, 2017 for their film about the 1973 tennis match between ex-champ-hustler Bobby Riggs and World #1 Billie Jean King. Here's the official synopsis:
The electrifying 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became one of the most watched televised sports events of all time. The match caught the zeitgeist and sparked a global conversation on gender equality, spurring on the feminist movement. Trapped in the media glare, King and Riggs were on opposite sides of a binary argument, but off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. With a supportive husband urging her to fight the Establishment for equal pay, the fiercely private King was also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, while Riggs gambled his legacy and reputation in a bid to relive the glories of his past. Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis courts and animated the discussions between men and women in bedrooms and boardrooms around the world.
Interestingly enough, the film will be shot by LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who will be working off of a script penned by SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE's own Simon Beaufoy. Joining Carell and Stone for the film will be actors Elisabeth Shue, Alan Cumming, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman and Bill Pullman.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES opens in multiplexes on September 22, 2017.
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