Sports movies are often overlooked during the Oscar season. The last time a sports film won Best Picture was in 2005 when Clint Eastwood’s Million dollar baby took home the most coveted prize of the night. Since then, it’s been crickets. Some sports films and short films have been recognized with lower awards (e.g. Sandra Bullock – Best Supporting Actress, Blindsided, 2010; Kobe Bryant – Best Animated Short Film, Dear Basketball2018), but Best Picture has stayed away from sport for over a decade and a half at this point.
The 2021 biopic revolves around the upbringing and early careers of two of tennis’ all-time greats, sisters Venus and Serena Williams, King Richard has a chance to change that trend. The film, which stars Will Smith as the famous Richard Williams alongside Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, and Jon Bernthal, has some stiff competition for Best Picture. Other nominated films include Adam McKay’s social commentary Don’t look upDenis Villenueve’s sci-fi epic Sand dunesPaul Thomas Anderson is extremely controversial Licorice pizzaand Philippe Rousselet’s CODA. King Richard currently has the fifth highest odds to take home the Best Picture award, according to OddsChecker US, at +5000. That being said, the public seems to think King Richard take a better shot than the odds suggest.
OddsChecker indicates that, over the past seven days, 2.7% of the total bets for the Best Picture winner have been placed on King Richard – fourth highest rate of all nominated films. Though it’s still a long way from the movie that gets the most bets: CODA (65.3%), it still shows a movie that is more appreciated by the public than the Academy, and that can sometimes affect the results.
Still, King Richard was a heavy underdog in this race, and I mean MASSIVE! Dating back to 1974, the film with the lowest odds to actually win Best Picture is Brave Heart in 1996, listed at +600 odds to win Best Picture. Those are amazing odds against King Richard, so instead of betting on that prize, why not bet on something with a higher chance of winning? For his role as Richard Williams, Smith has the highest odds of winning Best Actor at -600, the highest rate to date. Yes, it seems like a sure shot, although you probably won’t make too much money with those odds. The public seems to agree. Over the past week, they’ve placed 60.3% of their total bet for Best Actor on Will Smith.
If Smith does indeed take home the Academy Award, it will be his first career win in any category. Smith was previously nominated for Best Actor for his roles in Pursuit of happiness and Alibut the prestigious Oscar has eluded him.
Although there has been some criticism of the film in general, particularly from Sabrina Williams, Venus and Serena’s half-sister, who claims the film only tells “half story,” It has been viewed in a positive light by both Serena and Venus. After all, the two of them were “super join“During the production of the film. Guaranteed, King Richard It may not win Best Picture, but hopefully it gets some recognition for the story it can tell about two of the greatest athletes of all time.
