Celebrated actor Will Smith returns to the big screen later this year with his highly anticipated film, “King Richard”.
Although the movie is only set to be released in November, Smith is already trending thanks to the trailer which was released this week.
Smith plays Richard Williams, the ultra-ambitious and inspirational father to tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams.
Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton play the two young tennis prodigies while Aunjanue Ellis stars as Oracene “Brandi” Williams, Tony Goldwyn as coach Paul Cohen and Jon Bernthal as coach Rick Macci.
The trailer focuses on Richard’s parenting efforts as he drives his daughters toward their destiny of becoming barrier-shattering pro tennis champs.
Richard, who had no tennis background, 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 4, Richard Williams 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, California, 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 players in tennis history.
According to Warner Bros, “King Richard” follows the journey of Richard Williams, “an undeterred father” with a “relentless drive and unapologetic vision to change the game” who is “instrumental in raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, who will end up changing the sport of tennis forever.
The trailer begins with Venus and Serena arriving to their Compton home with dad Richard after tennis practice in the pouring rain to find a white social worker “checking” on the children.
A calm yet frustrated Richard tells her: 'I don't even mind you saying we hard on these kids. You know why? 'Cause we are. That's our job. To keep 'em off these streets.
“You wanna check on the kids? Let's check on the kids.
“We got future doctors, and lawyers, plus a couple tennis stars in this house,” he emphatically tells her, while shots of young Venus and Serena practising flash on the screen.
“You’re going to be representing every little black girl on Earth,” says Richard in the trailer.
Venus and Serena themselves are among the executive producers behind the film,
In a recent appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show”, Venus said that “King Richard” tells the story of a “revolutionary” man and trailblazer.
“It’s really about my dad and how he literally changed the game and how this started,” Venus said during the January-aired chat.
“He’s a revolutionary kind of person. I love him to death. And of course it features my mom who I love so much,” she said.