![Nic Cage]()
Nicolas Cage playing John Madden in a movie... who would have thought?
Biopics have been all the rage as of late in Hollywood, and that trend looks to be continuing with the project titled "Madden" now in the works. Director David O. Russell has reportedly been working to get this movie off the ground for years, and it's finally found a home Amazon MGM Studios. Russell has formerly brought the industry films like
Silver Linings Playbook and
Amsterdam.
As if a movie based upon John Madden isn't enough, Nicolas Cage has been tapped to play him - after Hugh Jackman apparently attached and detached himself from the role again and again in the film's early stages. If the movie were supposed to be a traditional biopic, then Jackman would have been great to play Madden. But with sources saying that the film will rather focus on the origin of the
Madden NFL video game, Cage seems like a home-run hire (sorry for crossing sports references there).
John Madden was a legendary football coach (his time with the Raiders in the 1970s was iconic), though he's probably better known for his three decades worth of color commentary after he left coaching. For the younger generations, he's best known as the guy who started the NFL video game - which will apparently learn more about through this film.
Director David O. Russell is ecstatic to finally get this film off the ground, and judging by this statement, he's equally as excited that Nicolas Cage will be leading the way:
"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. 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."
https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1824193834567471199
After Cage has had somewhat of a redemptive arc in the past decade, many will be intrigued (I'm certainly raising my hand here) to see the expertise and dedication that only Nicolas Cage can bring to a role. And if the film is half as entertaining as John Madden himself was during his heyday, I'd say the video-game-biopic will be worth watching.
If only to see Cage go full John Madden...
