There's a battle of films about the Battle of the Sexes. Last year we learned Will Ferrell was attached to star in The Match Maker, a comedic look at the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, which was dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes" at the time. Now THR reports HBO has their own film on the subject on the way, and it may star Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti.
Penned by David Auburn (Proof) but without a director or title at this point, the film will center on the controversial match that saw 29-year-old King, then the #2 female tennis player in the world, take on the wildly chauvinistic Riggs, who had retired in 1951 but became famous again for challenging women players. His matches became a spectacle and a way for Riggs to make money and maintain his celebrity.
Presumably Banks will be playing Billie Jean King which will be interesting to see how that gets pulled off, with Giamatti as Riggs although nothing is clearly specified. The duo will be seen together later this year in the Brian Wilson biopic, Love & Mercy.
