You just had to wish on that monkey’s paw that Hollywood would stop making superhero movies, reboots, and sequels, didn’t you? Well, now the mysterious-yet-somehow-familiar vendor who sold you the paw has vanished without a trace, and you got your wish: No more superheroes, reboots, or sequels. Instead, every movie is now going to be about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs’ 1973 “Battle Of The Sexes” tennis match. Happy?
Deadline reports that Little Miss Sunshine and Ruby Sparks directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are now lined up to direct Battle Of The Sexes from a King-sanctioned script by Simon Beaufoy, perhaps best known for his screenplays for The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire. Emma Stone is set to star as King, while Steve Carell will be playing Riggs in the movie, described as a “comedy with dramatic and political overtones.” The project first surfaced in February 2014, when Danny Boyle was circling the directing job; according to Deadline, Boyle is still attached as a producer.
The news makes Battle Of The Sexes one of three King-Riggs movies now in the works. One version, made for HBO and written by Proof playwright David Auburn, will star Elizabeth Banks as King and Paul Giamatti as Riggs, while the other, which is called Match Maker and appears to be a more overtly comedic take on the subject, is set to star Will Ferrell as Riggs. The roles were previously filled for the 2001 ABC docudrama When Billie Beat Bobbie by Holly Hunter and Ron Silver, and will eventually be filled by by every man, woman, and child in Hollywood, as the film industry helplessly cycles through a never-ending permutation of Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs movies.