Challengers centers on a former tennis protégé Tashi Duncan who turns to coaching after suffering a career-ending injury, helping her husband Art (Mike Faist) rise to prominence and become a Grand Slam champion. They must face the ghosts of their past during a low-level Challenger event, where Art finds himself across the net from his former BFF and Tashi’s ex Patrick (Josh O’Connor).

Challengers topped the box office with $15 million grossed domestically, during a particularly slow week in North America. It also earned $10 million overseas.

These numbers are pretty impressive considering it’s an original film with an R-rating, and its star and producer Zendaya is hoping its success will inspire studios to give more original titles a wide release.

“We need to make more movies like this. It’s kind of scary because this is an original screenplay and those can be difficult to get people out to see. I hope that we can continue to have more variety (in Hollywood) and get people engaged with different kinds of films,” she told US Today.

Challengers centers on a former tennis player Tashi (Zendaya), who turned to caching after a career-ending injury. She used her skills to transform her husband Art (Mike Faist) into a world-famous grand slam champion, but they’re forced to deal with the ghosts of their pasts once he finds himself in the middle of a career slump.

“To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a “Challenger” event – close to the lowest level of pro tournament – where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend (Josh O’Connor),” reads MGM’s official logline.

Challengers hails from the acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), who co-wrote the script alongside Justin Kuritzkes. This creative duo also joined forces for the upcoming adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ short novel Queer starring Daniel Craig.

Challengers was supposed to serve as the opening film at last year’s Venice Film Festival before being hit by several major delays in the face of dual strikes in Hollywood. It’s now set to arrive in theatres on April 26.

Challengers centers on a former tennis protégé Tashi Duncan who turns to coaching after suffering a career-ending injury, helping her husband Art (Mike Faist) rise to prominence and become a Grand Slam champion. They must face the ghosts of their past during a low-level Challenger event, where Art finds himself across the net from his former BFF and Tashi’s ex Patrick (Josh O’Connor).

Challengers topped the box office with $15 million grossed domestically, during a particularly slow week in North America. It also earned $10 million overseas.

These numbers are pretty impressive considering it’s an original film with an R-rating, and its star and producer Zendaya is hoping its success will inspire studios to give more original titles a wide release.

“We need to make more movies like this. It’s kind of scary because this is an original screenplay and those can be difficult to get people out to see. I hope that we can continue to have more variety (in Hollywood) and get people engaged with different kinds of films,” she told US Today.

Challengers centers on a former tennis player Tashi (Zendaya), who turned to caching after a career-ending injury. She used her skills to transform her husband Art (Mike Faist) into a world-famous grand slam champion, but they’re forced to deal with the ghosts of their pasts once he finds himself in the middle of a career slump.

“To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a “Challenger” event – close to the lowest level of pro tournament – where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend (Josh O’Connor),” reads MGM’s official logline.

Challengers hails from the acclaimed director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), who co-wrote the script alongside Justin Kuritzkes. This creative duo also joined forces for the upcoming adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ short novel Queer starring Daniel Craig.

Challengers was supposed to serve as the opening film at last year’s Venice Film Festival before being hit by several major delays in the face of dual strikes in Hollywood. It’s now set to arrive in theatres on April 26.