Emma Stone’s Billie Jean King Biopic Gets Awards-Season Release Date

Fox Searchlight has given an awards season release date to “Battle of the Sexes,” starring Emma Stone as Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs. The film is scheduled to debut on Sept. 22.

Variety first reported in 2015 Stone was attached to the project. “Little Miss Sunshine” filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed from a script by Simon Beaufoy. Danny Boyle is producing under his Decibel Films banner along with Christian Colson and his company Cloud Eight.

Shooting began in April in Los Angeles. The competition between King and Riggs captured the public imagination in 1973, when the No. 2 ranked King — who was 29 — beat Riggs, a 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion. Privately, King was also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, while Riggs put his reputation on the line in a bid to relive the glories of his past.

The film also stars Andrea Riseborough as Marilyn Barnett, King’s hairdresser and lover; Elisabeth Shue as Riggs’ wife; Austin Stowell as King’s husband; Sarah Silverman as Gladys Heldman, the founder of World Tennis magazine; Natalie Morales as tennis player Rosie Casals; and Jessica McNamee as tennis player Margaret Court.

The biopic will be Stone’s first appearance on screen since she won best actress for “La La Land” at the 2017 Academy Awards.

Two other major titles are launching on the same date as “Battle of the Sexes.” Lionsgate will launch firefighting action drama “Granite Mountain,” and Warner Bros. will debut its animated “Ninjago,” a spinoff from “The Lego Movie.”

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