Actress Emma Stone may have recently split with her fellow Spider-Man franchise star Andrew Garfield, but she's set to play a "shero" all her own soon. In a role she'd previously been attached to before careering got in the way, Stone has been reunited with the idea of playing Billie Jean King in Fox Searchlight's forthcoming "Battle of the Sexes" big-screen retelling.
What's more, Steve Carell, a 2015 Oscar nominee for his turn in the wrestling-centric film "Foxcatcher", has signed on to play Bobby Riggs. He previously appeared in another film, "Little Miss Sunshine", for the same filmmakers, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.
Stone and Carell will compete not just against each other but versus two other looming Battle of the Sexes–centric projects, per Variety. Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti will star in "Proof" as Billie Jean and Bobby, respectively. The Will Ferrell vehicle "Match Maker" remains on tap as well, with the perennial funny man set to portray Riggs alongside a yet-unnamed actress.
Riggs was 55 when 29-year-old King took him to task in the landmark exhibition match played in Houston with a $100,000 pay day on the line. Their nationally televised showdown was preceded by much ballyhoo and trash talking, the bulk of it originating from Riggs.
King appears (as herself, of course) in a documentary film, "Out to Win", released earlier this year. That movie chronicles the lives of pioneering professional athletes who are gay and lesbian, from Billy Bean and Martina Navratilova to active competitors including Brittney Griner and Michael Sam.
While Stone and Carell are artists more than capable of transforming into King and Riggs, your Spin keeper would be lying if he didn't say he's quite looking forward to how the dramedy plays out betwixt Banks and Giamatti.
What pairing are you most looking forward to among these features? And who would you cast alongside Ferrell?
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