Warner Bros. has tapped relative newcomer Reinaldo Marcus Green to direct Will Smith in “King Richard,” based on a spec script by Zach Baylin, which centers on Richard Williams, the tenacious father of professional tennis royalty Venus and Serena Williams.
Smith is of course playing Williams in the film, which will mark Green’s first studio effort, after making his feature directorial debut with “Monsters and Men,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2018, where it picked up a Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature. It was picked up by distributor Neon, and released in the fall of the same year.
Green’s attachment is significant because it will mark the first time in Will Smith’s lengthy acting career that he will star in a feature film directed by a black filmmaker; it’s a notable milestone, especially for an industry that has long had a...
Smith is of course playing Williams in the film, which will mark Green’s first studio effort, after making his feature directorial debut with “Monsters and Men,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, 2018, where it picked up a Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature. It was picked up by distributor Neon, and released in the fall of the same year.
Green’s attachment is significant because it will mark the first time in Will Smith’s lengthy acting career that he will star in a feature film directed by a black filmmaker; it’s a notable milestone, especially for an industry that has long had a...
- 6/13/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Warner Bros. is in final talks to acquire “King Richard,” a biopic starring Will Smith about the life of Richard Williams, the father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
Zach Baylin wrote the spec script for the film that has Tim White and Trevor White (“The Post”) as producers under their Star Throwers Entertainment banner, along with Smith, who is producing for his Overbrook Entertainment banner. Allan Mandelbaum and Caleeb Pinkett are executive producers on the film, and Mary Solomon and Rick Rickertsen are serving as co-producers.
“King Richard” is the story of how Williams overcame adversity and trained his two daughters on the streets of Compton, California to become among the greatest tennis players in the history of the game.
Also Read: Will Smith Plays Matchmaker in Disney's New 'Aladdin' Trailer (Video)
“King Richard” was the subject of...
Zach Baylin wrote the spec script for the film that has Tim White and Trevor White (“The Post”) as producers under their Star Throwers Entertainment banner, along with Smith, who is producing for his Overbrook Entertainment banner. Allan Mandelbaum and Caleeb Pinkett are executive producers on the film, and Mary Solomon and Rick Rickertsen are serving as co-producers.
“King Richard” is the story of how Williams overcame adversity and trained his two daughters on the streets of Compton, California to become among the greatest tennis players in the history of the game.
Also Read: Will Smith Plays Matchmaker in Disney's New 'Aladdin' Trailer (Video)
“King Richard” was the subject of...
- 3/18/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Warner Bros is looking like the favorite to capture King Richard, a spec script by Zach Baylin that has Will Smith poised to play Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams. This deal will fall in the $60 million budget range, making it as big an auction as we’ve heard of this year, this side of the Lisa Joy-directed package Reminiscence, a film that Warner Bros also landed that has Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson starring. In both cases, Warner Bros essentially guaranteed green lights and agreed to budgets and production start dates for later this year. Smith dropped out of the Suicide Squad sequel, and has an opening in the latter part of the year.
Up against Warner Bros was Universal and Netflix, the latter of which had a bid bolstered by an alignment to another all-star duo, Barack & Michelle Obama. Word was that Warner Bros...
Up against Warner Bros was Universal and Netflix, the latter of which had a bid bolstered by an alignment to another all-star duo, Barack & Michelle Obama. Word was that Warner Bros...
- 3/18/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Warner Bros. is in final negotiations to buy “King Richard,” a movie starring Will Smith that centers on the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, sources tell Variety.
The studio had no comment.
The film, based on a script by Zach Baylin, will center on Richard Williams overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy, and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were 4 years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis. Baylin’s script was runner-up on the 2018 Black List.
Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, starting with the Us Open in 1999. Venus Williams has seven Grand Slam singles, starting with Wimbledon in 2000. The sisters have combined for 14 Grand Slam doubles championships.
Tim and Trevor White will produce under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, which has backed “The Post,” “Wind River,” and “Ingrid Goes West.” Smith will...
The studio had no comment.
The film, based on a script by Zach Baylin, will center on Richard Williams overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy, and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were 4 years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis. Baylin’s script was runner-up on the 2018 Black List.
Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, starting with the Us Open in 1999. Venus Williams has seven Grand Slam singles, starting with Wimbledon in 2000. The sisters have combined for 14 Grand Slam doubles championships.
Tim and Trevor White will produce under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, which has backed “The Post,” “Wind River,” and “Ingrid Goes West.” Smith will...
- 3/18/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Will Smith will play Richard Williams, the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in the movie “King Richard.”
The film, based on a script by Zach Baylin, will center on Richard Williams overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy, and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were four years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis. Baylin’s script was runner-up on the 2018 Black List.
Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, starting with the Us Open in 1999. Venus has seven Grand Slam singles, starting with Wimbledon in 2000. The sisters have combined for 14 Grand Slam doubles championships.
Tim and Trevor White will produce under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, which has backed “The Post,” “Wind River,” and “Ingrid Goes West.” Smith will also produce under his Overbrook Entertainment company. The executive producers include Allan Mandelbaum from Star Thrower...
The film, based on a script by Zach Baylin, will center on Richard Williams overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy, and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were four years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis. Baylin’s script was runner-up on the 2018 Black List.
Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, starting with the Us Open in 1999. Venus has seven Grand Slam singles, starting with Wimbledon in 2000. The sisters have combined for 14 Grand Slam doubles championships.
Tim and Trevor White will produce under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, which has backed “The Post,” “Wind River,” and “Ingrid Goes West.” Smith will also produce under his Overbrook Entertainment company. The executive producers include Allan Mandelbaum from Star Thrower...
- 3/4/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Even though there were no major tennis tournaments last weekend, the minds of industry leaders were courtside anyway. They were reading King Richard, a spec script by Zach Baylin that has Will Smith poised to play Richard Williams. He is the father of Venus and Serena Williams. Despite having no tennis background, he overcame tremendous hardship, skepticism and his own troubled past to raise two of the game’s greatest players. When his daughters were around the age of four, Richard Williams drew up a 78-page plan for their professional tennis careers. He began giving them tennis lessons and the girls learned the game on cracked, weedy public courts in Compton, reportedly after their father brawled with young toughs who were not fans of the sport and would not make way. The Williams sisters went on to become two of the greatest female players in tennis history, with Serena arguably the best ever,...
- 3/4/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe have been set to star in Villains, a darkly comedic thriller to be directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, based on their screenplay which made the Black List in 2016. Tim and Trevor White are producing via their Star Thrower Entertainment with Allan Mandelbaum, along with Garrick Dion for The Realm a subsidiary of Bron Studios. Bron's Aaron L. Gilbert and Creative Wealth Media's Jason Cloth are executive producers, with Rick Rickertsen and…...
- 3/8/2018
- Deadline
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