EXCLUSIVE: Author-director David O. Russell has set Nicolas Cage to star in Madden, the Amazon MGM Studios drama in regards to the unlikely path that took John Madden from Tremendous Bowl-winning Oakland Raiders head coach to the brains and model behind Madden NFL. That paved the best way for his rise to grow to be arguably the best soccer broadcaster the NFL has ever seen.
When Madden grew to become head coach of the Raiders and led the group to the championship, he appeared to be standing on high of the world. Teaching, and instructing the basics of soccer was all he ever needed out of life. However his dream job was destroying him as a result of he so obsessively put every part into the job. It pressured him to retire on the peak of his powers.
That path that solid Madden’s future was an unlikely one. He was courted by the fledgling gaming firm Digital Arts to be the entrance man for its Madden NFL multi-player online game. Madden had by no means performed a online game, but it surely become an outlet the place he might lend his data and assist the lots higher perceive the gridiron. Whereas Madden died in late 2021, the wildly standard sport that bears his identify continues into its 25th iteration. It grew to become a favourite of NFL gamers and followers alike, and Madden made a fortune from it.
That paved his path to the published sales space, which began with him offering colour whereas Bob Costas offered play by play. His most well-known pairing got here with former soccer star Pat Summerall; their voices are a part of the soundtrack of the grownup lives of many soccer followers. Madden modified the broadcasting sport, mixing his extraordinary data of Xs and Os with a bombastic humorousness and a childlike pleasure as he centered not solely on the sport however its absurdities. He additionally centered on the beforehand unsung efforts of not solely the “talent” gamers, however the behemoths on the offensive and defensive strains that fought epic battles few observed earlier than Madden made them family names. In his arsenal was a penchant for drawing on the telestrator for example every part from how nice performs on the sector got here collectively, to the smoke coming off an offensive lineman’s overheated head.
The slender Cage won’t be the primary particular person you’ll consider to play the lineman-sized Madden, however this continues an admirable second wind for the Oscar-winning actor. Cage has been taking up an array of extensively completely different characters. He most lately shone within the horror hit Longlegs, and earlier than that in Renfield, The Insufferable Weight of Huge Expertise, Pig and others. He has at all times thrown himself headfirst into these characters, and Madden will probably be a robust check of his talent set.
“Nicolas Cage, one among our biggest and most authentic actors, will painting one of the best of the American spirit of originality, enjoyable, and dedication through which something is feasible as beloved nationwide legend John Madden,” stated director David O Russell. “Along with the ferocious type, focus, and impressed individualism of Al Davis, proprietor of the underdog Oakland Raiders, the characteristic will probably be in regards to the pleasure, humanity and genius that was John Madden in a wildly creative, cool world of the Nineteen Seventies.”
Russell wrote the script, following an earlier model by Cambron Clark. Additionally producing are Black’s Escape Artists companions Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, and Jonathan Shukat alongside David O. Russell and Matthew Budman. Escape Artists’ David Bloomfield will govt produce.
Cage is repped by WME and Stride Administration, Russell is repped by CAA.
