Will Ferrell is set to star in a new movie about tennis legend Billie Jean King. No, Ferrell’s not attached to the Danny Boyle/Simon Beaufoy version teased earlier this year. Instead, he’s attached to the similar-sounding competing project Match Maker, penned by The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty writer Steve Conrad, and produced by both Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions and Chernin Entertainment. Based on Don Van Natta Jr.’s ESPN article, “The Match Maker: Bobby Riggs, The Mafia, And The Battle Of The Sexes,” the movie tells the story of King and Riggs’ 1973 famed tennis match. Ferrell will, of course, play Riggs.
This isn’t Ferrell’s first sports movie, and it probably won’t be his last. He’s previously made movies about semi-pro basketball, stock car racing, ice skating, and soccer.