Reinaldo Marcus Green is on board to direct Warner Bros.’ “King Richard,” which centers on the father of tennis champs Venus and Serena Williams and stars Will Smith as their father.
After Green came on board Thursday, Warner Bros. announced that it had scheduled “King Richard” for a Nov. 25, 2020, release at the start of the Thanksgiving holiday.
WB won the rights in a heated bidding war earlier this year after Smith attached himself to the package to play Richard Williams.
The film is based on a script by Zach Baylin, following the true story of the hardscrabble but iron-willed father of Venus and Serena Williams who had a plan to make his daughters the greatest tennis players in the world.
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 White and Trevor White will produce through their Star Thrower banner and James Lassiter will produce for Overbrook Entertainment. Jada Pinkett Smith, Allan Mandelbaum and Caleeb Pinkett will exec produce.
Green made his directorial debut on the drama “Monsters and Men,” which had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film received a special jury prize for outstanding first feature and was acquired by Neon for U.S. distribution.
In 2018, he directed the first three episodes of the highly anticipated Netflix series “Top Boy,” which is executive produced by Drake and SpringHill Entertainment.
Most recently, Green completed principle photography on his sophomore feature “Good Joe Bell” starring Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton. He’s repped by WME and attorney André Des Rochers.