David O. Russell‘s John Madden biopic just drafted its lead. Nicolas Cage will play the NFL legend in the new film from Amazon MGM Studios. Deadline reports that the biopic will focus on the path that took Madden from Super Bowl champion coach to video game icon.
Says Russell, whose violent interaction with George Clooney on the set of 1999’s Three Kings has recently resurfaced, “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.” Russell wrote the latest draft of the film’s script; an earlier draft was penned by Cambron Clark. It isn’t the only Madden project in the works; sports movie veteran Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, The Way Back) is working on a biographical John Madden miniseries, with another NFL immortal, Tom Brady, on board as a producer.
Who Is John Madden?
Born in 1936, John Madden’s on-field career was ended by a knee injury. He soon turned his attention to coaching, and swiftly became one of the greatest coaching minds ever to grace the gridiron. After a successful stint coaching college ball, he was hired by maverick Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis and soon turned the team into a perennial contender. Playing Madden’s brand of hard-edged football, the Raiders won seven divisional titles and 1977’s Super Bowl XI. Although Madden could conceivably have coached for decades, he retired from coaching at age 42 after ten seasons. He soon transitioned to television, using his unparalleled knowledge of the game to communicate its intricacies to the TV audience, as over the course of a multi-decade career, he worked for all four major US TV networks. However, one of his greatest legacies may be the Madden series of football video games. Although Madden had never played a video game in his life, he believed the games, to which he contributed his image, his voice, and his expertise, could be used as a teaching tool. Madden was also famously averse to flying; although he covered football games across the continental United States, he traveled to and from in a customized tour bus dubbed the “Madden Cruiser”. Upon his death in 2021, he was memorialized as one of the all-time greatest figures in professional football.
In recent years, Cage has undergone something of a renaissance, with audiences rediscovering his indelible performances. Over the last decade, he has delivered acclaimed performances in Mandy, Pig, and Dream Scenario. He can currently be seen as the terrifying titular serial killer in Longlegs, and will next grace the screen in the thriller The Surfer.
David O. Russell‘s John Madden biopic, which will star Nicolas Cage as the coaching legend, is in development; no release date has yet been announced.
via Collider