Emma Stone and Steve Carell are set to star in “Battle of the Sexes,” a Fox Searchlight project about the epic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
“Little Miss Sunshine” filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris will direct from a script by Simon Beaufoy. Danny Boyle will produce under his Decibel Films banner along with Christian Colson and his company Cloud Eight.
Beaufoy has been working on the script for several years and King has been cooperating with the project, though Riggs died in 1995.
“Battle of the Sexes” is the third project Hollywood is developing about King and Riggs but it is expected to be the first one in front of cameras.
HBO has Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti starring in an original movie, while Will Ferrell is attached to play Riggs in “Match Maker,” which his company Gary Sanchez is producing with Chernin Entertainment.
King was the No. 2 ranked female tennis player in 1973 when she, at 29 years old, was challenged by and defeated retired former Wimbledon champion Riggs, who was 55 at the time.
The tone of the film is expected to be comedic, though clearly the material covers dramatic political themes with regard to gender.