By Creative Media Times
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Emma Stone may be headed back to Oscar glory and make history after her latest film, ‘Battle of the Sexes’ premiered to rave reviews at the Telluride Film Festival. The sports comedy-drama film from directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) was written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and stars Emma Stone as legendary tennis player Billie Jean King.
Stone, who recently won an Academy Award for Best Actress for playing an aspiring actress in last year’s La La Land, was in Colorado on Saturday to promote her new movie ahead of the film’s release later this month. Billie Jean King was also at the premiere screening.
The plot is loosely based on the eponymous battle of the sexes tennis match in 1973 when King was a 29, against Bobby Riggs (played in the film by Steve Carell,) then 55-years-old. King won the match in three sets, and the win became a milestone in public acceptance of women’s tennis. There was heavy media attention leading to the match as a few months earlier, Riggs won a similar match against Margaret Court, while King founded the Women’s Tennis Association.
Also in the film are Bill Pullman, Elisabeth Shue and Sarah Silverman. ‘Battle of the Sexes’ will again be screening at the Toronto International Film Festival next week, followed by a limited release on September 22.
