Will Smith may be heading to the big screen as a giant blue genie in Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ soon enough but the Fresh Prince is also now attached to play the Father of Tennis greats, Serena and Venus Williams in ‘King Richard’.
The straight biopic will focus on Richard William’s bringing up his two daughters and training the girls without any background in the sport. Williams overcame tremendous hardship, scepticism and his a troubled past to raise two of the game’s greatest players.
Richard Williams drew up a 78-page plan for their professional tennis careers when the girls were only 4 years old. 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, with 23 Grand Slam tournament wins.
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‘The Post’, ‘Wind River’ and ‘Ingrid Goes West’s’ Tim White and Trevor White will produce for Star Thrower Entertainment alongside Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment banner.
Smith recently stepped away from the James Gunn produced Suicide Squad reboot due to conflicting schedules. He will be next be seen in Disney’s Aladdin and is currently filming ‘Bad Boys For Life’ in which he reprises his role as Mike Lowery and will be reunited with Martin Lawrence.
