Bobby Riggs will have his day on the silver screen thanks to Steve Carell—and Paul Giamatti and Will Ferrell, reportedly. Now it's John McEnroe's turn. A feature film titled Borg/McEnroe is said to be forthcoming in 2017, starring perennial puzzler Shia LaBeouf as McEnroe. Director Janus Metz, a 2010 darling of the Cannes Film Festival, will helm the project.
With LaBeouf perched to play the mercurial McEnroe, A Serious Game's Sverrir Gudnason will portray a relatively cool, collected Borg. Hollywood veteran Stellan Skarsgard has been tapped to play Borg's coach, Lennart Bergelin.
Filmmakers keen on Bjorn-versus-John projects enjoy titles featuring forward slashes. Previously, the McEnroe-Borg rivalry received the documentary treatment courtesy of HBO's McEnroe/Borg: Fire & Icefilm in 2011. That same year, Andy Samberg appeared as both McEnroe and Borg in a New York Times Magazinecover feature spread of photos. In 2015, a spoof of a McEnroe-esque character appeared in Samberg's 7 Days in Hell mockumentary last year, with (you guessed it) Samberg in the not-so-vague Johnny Mac role.
All that to say this: Brace thyselves, tennis fans.
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