EXCLUSIVE: Writer-director David O. Russell has set Nicolas Cage to star in Madden, the Amazon MGM Studios drama about the unlikely path that took John Madden from Super Bowl-winning Oakland Raiders head coach to the brains and brand behind Madden NFL. That paved the way for his rise to become arguably the greatest football broadcaster the NFL has ever seen.
When Madden became head coach of the Raiders and led the team to the championship, he seemed to be standing on top of the world. Coaching, and teaching the fundamentals of football was all he ever wanted out of life. But his dream job was destroying him because he so obsessively put everything into the job. It forced him to retire at the peak of his powers.
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That path that forged Madden’s future was an unlikely one. He was courted by the fledgling gaming company Electronic Arts to be the front man for its Madden NFL multi-player video game. Madden had never played a video game, but it turned into an outlet where he could lend his knowledge and help the masses better understand the gridiron. While Madden died in late 2021, the wildly popular game that bears his name continues into its 25th iteration. It became a favorite of NFL players and fans alike, and Madden made a fortune from it.
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That paved his path to the broadcast booth, which started with him providing color while Bob Costas provided play by play. His most famous pairing came with former football star Pat Summerall; their voices are part of the soundtrack of the adult lives of many football fans. Madden changed the broadcasting game, blending his extraordinary knowledge of Xs and Os with a bombastic sense of humor and a childlike joy as he focused not only on the game but its absurdities. He also focused on the previously unsung efforts of not only the “skill” players, but the behemoths on the offensive and defensive lines that fought epic battles few noticed before Madden made them household names. In his arsenal was a penchant for drawing on the telestrator to illustrate everything from how great plays on the field came together, to the smoke coming off an offensive lineman’s overheated head.
The slender Cage might not be the first person you would think of to play the lineman-sized Madden, but this continues an admirable second wind for the Oscar-winning actor. Cage has been taking on an array of widely different characters. He most recently shone in the horror hit Longlegs, and before that in Renfield, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig and others. He has always thrown himself headfirst into these characters, and Madden will be a strong test of his skill set.
“Nicolas Cage, one of our greatest and most original actors, will portray the best of the American spirit of originality, fun, and determination in which anything is possible as beloved national legend John Madden,” said director David O Russell. “Together with the ferocious style, focus, and inspired individualism of Al Davis, owner of the underdog Oakland Raiders, the feature will be about the joy, humanity and genius that was John Madden in a wildly inventive, cool world of the 1970s.”
Russell wrote the script, following an earlier version by Cambron Clark. Also producing are Black’s Escape Artists partners Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, and Jonathan Shukat alongside David O. Russell and Matthew Budman. Escape Artists’ David Bloomfield will executive produce.
Cage is repped by WME and Stride Management, Russell is repped by CAA.