Battle of the Sexes Trailer (2017)

Trailer for Battle of the Sexes, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.

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 Battle of the Sexes and became one of the most watched televised sports events 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 opposite 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.

After Fox Searchlight announced they would be moving forward with a film covering the historic event off a script by Simon Beaufoy, the pre-production seemed to take off without a hitch. Not so! A quick bump in the road appeared after Emma Stone, cast to play Billie Jean King, explained the production push created scheduling conflicts. Seeing that the actress has been a busy bee of late, the conflict makes sense. Stone was forced to exit the production and was quickly replaced by another exploding actress, Brie Larson.

It is unclear if Brie Larson had scheduling conflicts as well -- think Kong -- but she was quickly replaced after Stone negotiated a way to have her calendar moved around a bit. So, in the end, Stone came back and recovered the lead role she initially lost. Production seemed to go off without a hitch after that, with photography starting on April 13, 2016.

The event, which had the same name as the film, is known by most. I discovered the entire story during my "Sports Appreciation" class in college. Yes, this class actually exists. Even though the class gave a pretty in-depth look at the event, we didn't learn all about Bobbie's shenanigans before the match nor Billie Jean King's love drama where she confesses to having a lesbian affair.

Now that is interesting! And, Battle of the Sexes is sure to take an in-depth look at both topics.

The only thing the trailer is sure to leave out is the actual tennis match. So maybe the match isn't as important as the story that takes place before? Not exactly, as the match is definitely historic in regards to both sports and feminism.