“I had a great idea,” Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) tells Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) over the phone in the new trailer for “Battle of the Sexes.” “‘Male Chauvinist Pig versus Hairy-Legged Feminist.’ You’re still a feminist, right?” Completely over it, Billie Jean replies, “I’m a tennis player who happens to be a woman.”
“By the way, I shave my legs,” she informs the self-proclaimed sexist before hanging up on him.
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s (“Little Miss Sunshine”) upcoming comedy is based on the true story of King v. Riggs, the much-hyped 1973 tennis match — also known as “the Battle of the Sexes” — that became a cultural shorthand for women’s rights, especially as they pertain to sports.
The footage gives us glimpses of Riggs’ obnoxious behavior, Billie Jean’s burgeoning romance with Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough, “Birdman”), and some good old-fashioned shit-talking between the opponents. “Keep talking, Bobby,” Billie Jean laughs during a press conference. “The more nonsense you spout, the worse it’s gonna be when you lose.”
Written by Simon Beaufoy (“127 Hours”) and co-starring Sarah Silverman, Elisabeth Shue, and Alan Cumming, “Battle of the Sexes” hits theaters September 22. Check out its trailer and poster below.
