The Battle of the Sexes '99% chance of being at Telluride'



According to a source close to the Telluride Film Festival, it's all but clinched for "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "The Battle of the Sexes." That is positive news in regards to the film's quality as Telluride has always been very picky in choosing its 22 or so slots.

The film, which stars Emma Stone and Steve Carell, is about the historic tennis match between the 29-year-old, number two-ranked tennis sensation Billie Jean King, and the retired, boorish former Open champ Bobby Riggs.

Elisabeth Shue, Andrea Riseborough, Alan Cumming, Sarah Silverman and more join Stone and Carell in the film, and given the chemistry, the lead duo had in "Crazy Stupid Love,” this seems like a solid ensemble all around. "Battle Of The Sexes" was also penned by the talented Simon Beaufoy, known for writing Danny Boyle classics "Slumdog Millionaire" and "127 Hours."

The 1973 "Battles Of The Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs captured the imagination of not only tennis enthusiasts, but of the whole world. There has always been the persistent rumor that Riggs threw the match to settle the debts he had with the mob. Whether or not the movie will tackle this part of the subject has yet to be determined. Here's the official synopsis:
"The electrifying 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) was billed as the BATTLE OF THE SEXES and became the most watched televised sports event of all time.  The match caught the zeitgeist and sparked a global conversation on gender equality, spurring on the feminist movement. Trapped in the media glare, King and Riggs were on opposites sides of a binary argument, but off-court each was fighting more personal and complex battles. With a supportive husband urging her to fight the Establishment for equal pay, the fiercely private King was also struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality, while Riggs gambled his legacy and reputation in a bid to relive the glories of his past. Together, Billie and Bobby served up a cultural spectacle that resonated far beyond the tennis courts and animated the discussions between men and women in bedrooms and boardrooms around the world."

The film will be released on September 22nd.