BORG/MCENROE Trailer

2017 might be the year you learn how tennis works. Sure, some of you already know, but if you wander through life as an outspoken fan of the sport, you often hear people complain about the confusing score. That’s what makes the premiere positioning of Borg/McEnroe rather odd, because unless you know that points win games and games win sets and sets win matches, you aren’t going to follow the ebb and flow of a tight match. And don’t even get me started on the drama of deuces and ads.

If you’ve been introduced to the sport, then simply name-dropping Björn Borg and John McEnroe is enough to get your curiosity piqued. If you aren’t in the know, then understand that they are two of the greatest players the sport has ever seen, polar opposites in terms of personality, and with a long enough rivalry to fill several films. If you can get past the scoring, then Borg/McEnroe offers the stuff of legendary sports movies.

Selected to open the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, it’s hard to pinpoint the angle the distributors are going for here. It doesn’t seem to be an awards season contender (there’s still no official release date in the U.S.) but it also isn’t an easy sell to wide audiences. Sure, they got Shia LaBeouf to play McEnroe, but he doesn’t exactly bring in crowds, and while Sverrir Gudnason looks remarkably like Borg, he isn’t going to sell tickets. It seems like the movie will have to hit the sweet spot at Toronto to gain momentum, and from there it might find an audience.

Borg/McEnroe is directed by Janus Metz and stars Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf, and Stellan Skarsgård. It will be released in the U.K. on September 22nd, 2017. For international release dates, click here.

Are you interested in a tennis movie? Let us know in the comments!