Sports romances have gained an immense increase in popularity with shows like Heated Rivalry and Off Campus and movies like Challengers and She’s the Man dominating screens. Social media sites like TikTok and Instagram are constantly flooded with commentaries and edits of viewers’ favourite characters and scenes. With the increasing popularity and demand, studios are beginning to develop even more sports romances, one of which is production company Run-A-Muck’s upcoming lesbian basketball romantic comedy called Courtside.
The film is currently in pre-production with Abbott Elementary’s Brittani Nichols as the lead writer and queer non-binary filmmaker Carly Usdin as the director. Nichols told Deadline, “It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this kind of excitement to surround women’s basketball, and I’m excited to blend my love of sports, lesbian tension, and comedy into one project.”
Courtside is set to follow the story of an injured professional women’s basketball player as she falls in love with one of her teammates. Deadline describes it as a “modern sports romantic comedy set in the world of professional women’s basketball.”
Jennifer Beals from The L Word and Co-Founder of Run-A-Muck is set to star in the production. The cast is, additionally, stacked with openly queer WNBA players Gabby Williams, Syd Colson, and Theresa Plaisance. Syd Colson is also set to be an executive producer on the film, stating, “I don’t think I’ve ever said yes to an opportunity faster than I did for Courtside”. The project is truly one made by and for the community.
In an Instagram post, Colson expresses, “If you like Love and Basketball, Bend It Like Beckham, and Bring It On, but you found yourself wondering, could this maybe be a little bit… gayer? We got great news for you. Because we had the same question. And the answer is, yeah, you can always make it gayer… Women’s basketball is finally getting the rom-com it deserves.”
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When discussing her role as an executive producer in the exclusive statement to Deadline, she went on to further say, “I respect Carly and Brittani’s sense of humor so much and being involved with this in any capacity sounded amazing! I’m elated to see a new generation of women’s sports films. I can already feel how transformative this movie will be in terms of representation on screen for minorities, queer people, and women’s basketball players and fans alike.”
“This is exactly the kind of story we want to be telling,” said Run-A-Muck’s Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Ilene Chaiken as she described the company’s excitement for the project, “Women’s sports are driving culture in a way that feels undeniable, and there [is] a real appetite for character-driven queer stories that reflect that world authentically.”
A release date has not yet been set as the project continues pre-production.
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