Reinaldo Marcus Green to direct Will Smith's King Richard

Reinaldo Marcus Green is on board to direct Will Smith's 'King Richard'.

The 'Monsters and Men' filmmaker is set to helm Warner Bros new film about Venus Williams and Serena Williams with Smith, 50, playing the tennis great's father, Richard Williams.

Zach Baylin's new screenplay tells the story of Richard who, with no tennis experience, raised and developed the sisters to become legends of the sport.

The movie is set for release in 2020 and Venus, 38, and Serena, 37, aren't among the producing team, which includes the 'Suicide Squad' star and his Overbrook Entertainment banner.

Richard, 77, trained the girls on the courts of Compton in Los Angeles from an early age and at the age of four drew up a 78-page plan for their professional careers.

The pair were still teenagers when Serena won the US Open in 1999 and Venus won Wimbledon in 2000.

Serena has gone on to win a total of 23 individual Grand Slam tournaments, whilst Venus has won seven Grand Slam titles.

The rest of the producing team consists of Tim White and Trevor Write through their Star Thrower Entertainment banner and Allan Mandelbaum and Caleeb Pinkett will serve as executive producers with Mary Solomon and Rick Rickertsen.

Speaking of her father's influence on her life, Serena previously said: "He's been the most important person in my career. I do miss my dad obviously. I miss him all the time.

"I call him. I try to reach out to him a lot. He calls me. He watches my matches. He still tells me things that I'm not doing right.

"It all started with an idea. It was his idea. It's changed sports. It's changed history."