Elizabeth Banks And Paul Giamatti To Face Off In “Battle Of The Sexes” Tennis Match For HBO
Elizabeth BanksandPaul Giamattiwill be going head-to-head on the tennis court. The pair have signed on for HBO Films' untitled project about the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match betweenBillie Jean KingandBobby Riggs.Tom HanksandGary Goetzmanwill produce through Playtone, along with Banks and her Brownstone Productions partner (and husband)Max Handelman.David Auburn(Proof) will write the script. More on the Elizabeth Banks Billie Jean King movie after the jump.Deadlinereported the casting. Riggs, at the time a 55-year-old Wimbledon champion in retirement, had just come off of another “Battle of the Sexes” match, in which he defeated Margaret Court. King, then 29 and the no. 2 ranked female star, accepted his challenge.
The match was a huge event in American sports history, with some 50 million tuning in to watch. King emerged victorious from their best-of-five-sets match. The question of whether a woman could compete against a man in athletics was thus settled forever, and nobody ever thought to ask it again.
The Riggs vs. King match has only been dramatized once before, in the 2001 TV movieWhen Billie Beat Bobbystarring Holly Hunter and Ron Silver. For whatever reason, though, the event has been getting a lot of attention as of late.
Will Ferrell has his own feature version of the story brewing titledMatch Maker, which will focus on rumors that Riggs threw the match to pay off a mob debt. There was also word last year that Danny Boyle was interested indirecting his own take, though that one doesn’t seem to have progressed much.
Banks and Giamatti are coming off of another collaboration, the Brian Wilson biopicLove & Mercy. Previously, they starred together inFred Claus. He’ll next be seen inSan AndreasandStraight Outta Compton. Her upcoming projects includePitch Perfect 2(which she also directed),Magic Mike XXL, andThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
