Ever since it was originally announced that Emma Stone and Steve Carell would be portraying Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in Battle Of The Sexes, there has been chatter that it could result in Academy Award nominations for the pair. Of course, after picking up the Best Actress gong for her work in La La Land, Emma Stone won't be quite as eager for hers, but that doesn't mean that she has put any less effort into her performance as the tennis icon. In fact, the first trailer for The Battle Of The Sexes suggests that she's utterly transformative in the role, while the film itself looks rather top notch, too.
The Battle Of The Sexes revolves around the build-up and the tennis match between Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell), which took place in 1973. Before the match, Bobby Riggs came out and insisted that he could beat any female tennis player in the world. By 1973, when he was 55, Riggs had previously won six major titles and was the number 1 ranked player in the world.
The first time Bobby Riggs challenged Billie Jean King to a contest, she refused, and then he took on Margaret Court. Bobby Riggs won that match, which took place on Mother's Day 1973, and then continued his attacks. This finally convinced Billie Jean King to take on Bobby Riggs in Houston on September 20, 1973. I won't ruin the outcome of the match, but those of you that interested will be able to learn it courtesy of a quick Wikipedia search.
Clearly there's plenty in the above to make for a solid enough biopic and sports film, and while writer Simon Beaufoy, who picked up an Academy Award for his scriptwriting work on Slumdog Millionaire, has already insisted that it is only loosely based on the match, I think it's safe to assume that the outcome will still be the same. As well as Simon Beaufoy, there's a very solid cast and crew behind The Battle Of The Sexes, as has it been directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who rose to prominence with Little Miss Sunshine, which they then followed up with the underrated Ruby Sparks.
As well as Emma Stone and Steve Carell, the latter of whom looks as though he will be able to showcase both his comedic sensibilities and dramatic talents as Bobby Riggs, the cast for the film is rounded off by Andrea Riseborough as Marilyn Barnett (who is King's hairdresser and love interest), Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, Austin Stowell and Natalie Morales. We'll be able to see if The Battle Of The Sexes is genuinely Oscar worthy when it's finally released on September 22, while you can check out CinemaBlend's full movie schedule for 2017 to see what else could be in contention.
