According to Variety, actress on the rise Brie Larson (Short Term 12) is being courted to portray tennis legend Billie Jean King in the upcoming Fox Searchlight title Battle of the Sexes. The Little Miss Sunshine duo of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are set to direct from script by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) with director Danny Boyle (Steve Jobs) on as one of the films’ producers.
The film chronicles the infamous 1972 tennis match between tennis greats King and Bobby Briggs. Then, King was 29-years-old and second ranked female tennis player in the world and Briggs, a retired 55-year-old former Wimbledon champ. History and affirmative girl-power cheers roared the world when King won the match. Steve Carell (Oscar nominated last year for Foxcatcher) is set to portray Briggs. If Larson takes on the part, she would be replacing Emma Stone (Birdman), who was previously announced to join the project but has since dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
The story is a part of fad in the industry as of late, considering Battle of the Sexes is one of three projects detailing the historic King-Briggs match in the works. Over at HBO, Love & Mercy co-stars Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti are set to spar in Proof and Match Maker has Will Ferrell attached to star as Briggs as well as produce. We shall see which King-Briggs project makes it out of the gate first.
One thing that is for certain is heat for Larson. She may find herself in the awards conservation later this year thanks to performance in Room, drama that was greeted warmly by critics at both the Telluride and Toronto film festivals. Room is set to open on October 16th. The actress is also slated to appear in the highly anticipated Kong: Skull Island as well as the upcoming indies Wiener-Dog (from director Todd Solondz) and Free Fire (from director Ben Wheatley).
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