Will Smith is set to play Richard Williams, the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, in an upcoming film titled King Richard. 

According to Variety, which broke the news: The film, based on a script by Zach Baylin, will center on Richard Williams overcoming hardship, skepticism, controversy and his own troubled past to instruct his daughters, starting when they were 4 years old on the tennis courts of Compton, Calif. — despite not having a background in tennis.

The script for the film was runner-up on the 2018 Black List.

The film will be produced by Tim and Trevor White for their Star Thrower Entertainment and Smith for his Overbrook Entertainment. His brother-in-law Caleeb Pinkett will also produce for Overbrook, as well as Allan Mandelbaum of Star Thrower. Mary Solomon and Rick Rickertsen co-produce.

Smith is currently in production on Bad Boys for Life, and it was revealed last week that he would not return for the new Suicide Squad film due to scheduling.

 

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images, CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images