What are the odds of raising one all-time great athlete? What are the odds of raising two? Whatever they are, Richard Williams beat them as the father, first coach and mentor of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. Their story is the subject of the new film King Richard starring Will Smith.
The first trailer for King Richard has arrived, showing Smith as the Williams patriarch, pushing and inspiring his daughters (not only Venus and Serena) to reach new heights and go beyond their Los Angeles neighborhood of Compton. Warner Bros. is going to release King Richard in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously on Nov. 19.
Venus Williams is a seven-time tennis Grand Slam winner and former No. 1 in the world, while Serena Williams has 23 of her own Grand Slam titles and is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Their careers brought a new wave of interest to tennis and inspired numerous young girls to pick up the game. As the trailer depicts, Richard Williams did all he could to set them on the path toward those momentous achievements.
Watch the trailer right here.
Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men) directs King Richard. Smith stars alongside youngsters Saniyya Sidney as Venus Williams and Demi Singleton as Serena Williams. Also in the cast are Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldywn, Dylan McDermott and Aunjanue Ellis.
Smith could very well be in the awards conversation with King Richard. The movie star has two Oscar nominations thus far in his career, but hasn’t been nominated since The Pursuit of Happyness in 2007.
King Richard’s simultaneous streaming debut will be available to subscribers of HBO Max’s $14.99 tier for the first 30 days of the film’s release at no extra cost; it will not be available to those who subscribe to the $9.99 ad-supported version of HBO Max. The day-and-date release strategy for theaters and streaming that Warner Bros. has done for all of 2021 will not continue in 2022, though the studio does plan to have at least 10 original movies that will play exclusively on the streaming service.
In addition to access to first-run Warner Bros. movies, HBO Max features a library of thousands of TV shows and movies, including classic HBO content, Friends, Rick & Morty, Judas & the Black Messiah, La La Land and Birds of Prey, as well as HBO Max Originals.
