Mike Fleming over at Deadline is hearing word Will Smith has signed for the Zach Baylin-scripted ‘King Richard,’ a movie about Richard Williams, father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Despite having no tennis background, Willliams overcame tremendous hardship, scepticism and his own troubled past to raise two of the game’s greatest players. When his daughters were around the age of four, he 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 sisters went on to become two of the greatest female players in tennis history.
Producers on the project include Tim and Trevor White under their Star Thrower Entertainment banner, alongside Smith and his banner, Overbrook Entertainment.