Three years ago, the NFL world lost a giant when John Madden died at age 85. The legendary coach and broadcaster was one of the most recognizable faces and voices the sport has ever had, and his legacy lives on in his namesake video game franchise (with the Madden ’25 releasing on Friday).
Madden’s life is fascinating, and he will be the focus of a new biopic from director David O. Russell. As for the actor playing Madden, that would be none other than Nicolas Cage.
“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, via The Hollywood Reporter. “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.”
I’m not sure there is a stranger, but more exciting sentence you could tell me than “Nic Cage is going to play John Madden in a movie.” I cannot wait to see how that works, exactly, as I cannot imagine it in my head, but I do know that Cage, as only he can, will be absolutely going for it. As for the subject matter of the movie, it will be focused on the beginning of the video game franchise, rather than Madden’s coaching or broadcasting career, per THR.
But this is not a biopic of the man in the typical way, nor a sports drama, a genre Russell took on with boxing movie The Fighter. Rather, Madden is in part, according to sources, a video game movie. It’s the origin story of Madden NFL, one of the biggest video game franchises of all time.
We’ll see how that story adapts to the big screen, but the Madden franchise unquestionably changed the sports video game marketplace forever, so it is an intriguing story for the film to dive into.