John Madden, the Super Bowl-winning coach turned turned NFL broadcaster and face of a video game franchise, is getting his own biopic movie. Writer and director David O. Russell has put the project together and cast Nicolas Cage to headline the film, which will be called Madden.
“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 Russell in a statement to Deadline. “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.”
Madden only had a relatively short stint in the NFL as the Raiders’ head coach from 1969 to 1978, which included seven division titles and a Super Bowl win. If the Madden movie is confined to the ’70s, then it will exclude some of the most interesting times in his life. After retiring from coaching, Madden went on to become the most famous broadcaster in the NFL, as well as a key figure behind the Madden NFL video game franchise, which continues even after his death in 2021.
Cage has recently enjoyed a career resurgence after roles in Pig, Renfield, and Longlegs. The actor was also recently cast in MGM+ and Prime Video’s Spider-Man Noir live-action series, where he will reprise his voice role from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Madden will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios. The project doesn’t currently have a release date.
