Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) has just joined the cast of Fox Searchlight’s Battle of the Sexes, according to Variety.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the team behind Little Miss Sunshine, are co-directing from a script by Simon Beaufoy (Everest, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). The story captures the epic male vs female tennis exhibition match-up of 1973 between Bobby Riggs (to be played by Steve Carrell) and Billie Jean King (to be played by Emma Stone). The face-off drew crowd of 50 million. Shue will play Riggs’ wife. Andrea Riseborough (Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) – who co-starred with Stone in Birdman – will play Marilyn Barnett, King’s hairdresser and former lover. Austin Stowell (Bridge of Spies) is also in the cast. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) is attached to produce under his Decibel Films alongside Christian Colson and his Cloud Eight banner.
Shue did a 3-year run on TV’s CSI:Crime Scene Investigation from 2012-2015, and also recently starred in House at the End of the Street, Hope Springs and Chasing Mavericks.
Battle of the Sexes is one of three projects revolving around the Riggs-King tennis feud. HBO/Playtone have an untitled project with Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti (Straight Outta Compton) and Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect) announced to play Riggs and King while Match Maker has Will Ferrell (Daddy’s Home) playing Riggs with Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness) attached to write. It will be a battle to see which of the three projects makes it to the finish line first.
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