- Title: 'Borg/McEnroe' rivalry movie kicks off Toronto festival
- Date: 8th September 2017
- Summary: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA (SEPTEMBER 7, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ACTOR SHIA LABEOUF POSING ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, JANUS METZ, SAYING: "Bjorn and John, you know, they're backdrops to my childhood. They're part of the tapestry of popular culture back then, and, of course, I was, you know, excited about, you know, these two characters and their story, but it was really, you know, diving into that and diving into the script (inaudible), which was a piece of poetry. That's what drew me to the project." PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PHOTOS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE POSING ON RED CARPET DRESSED AS BJORN BORG AND JOHN MCENROE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, STELLAN SKARSGARD, SAYING: "Borg's way of playing tennis changed tennis forever and so did McEnroe's later. But the big thing was not the rivalry - and I don't think they themselves saw it as a rivalry thing. I think that is a media thing more, because media loves pitching people against each other as you know. But I think they respected each other very, very much." VARIOUS OF ACTOR SVERRIR GUDNASON POSING ON RED CARPET VARIOUS OF CANADIAN TENNIS PLAYER DENIS SHAPOVALOV POSING ON RED CARPET WITH GUEST MORGAN KRIZMANICH
- Embargoed: 22nd September 2017 07:29
- Keywords: Borg/McEnroe Toronto International Film Festival tennis movie Canadian tennis player Denis Shapovalov Shai LaBeouf Björn Borg John McEnroe
- Location: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA / UNIDENTIFIED FILM LOCATIONS
- City: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA / UNIDENTIFIED FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: Canada
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0026XQIYBX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A tale of real-life rivalry on the tennis court kicked off the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday (September 7) in a scaled-back line-up of movies that focus on tales of survival amid chaos.
"Borg/McEnroe" stars Shia LaBeouf as fiery U.S. tennis star John McEnroe and Sverrir Gudnason as cool Swedish champion Björn Borg, whose epic matches in the 1980s set the world of tennis alight.
LaBeouf, 31, in his first big movie since a string of arrests for drunken or disorderly behavior in the past three years, acknowledged that he shared some of McEnroe's hot-headed personality.
"Borg/McEnroe" is not the only film getting a Toronto showcase whose drama plays out on the tennis court. Emma Stone, in her first movie since winning an Oscar for musical "La La Land" in February, plays Billie Jean King as she fought 1970s sexism and faced off against Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) in "Battle of the Sexes."
The Toronto festival has become one of the most important stops for filmmakers looking to showcase their work in the long Hollywood awards season that culminates with the Oscars, on March 4 next year. The slate this year has been trimmed to 260 from around 300 in 2016. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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