EXCLUSIVE: As Amazon MGM Studios began production today on Madden, allow Deadline to bring you the first image of Nicolas Cage as former Raiders head coach-turned iconic broadcaster John Madden, and Christian Bale as the Raiders team owner Al Davis.
David O. Russell is directing the film, which also stars John Mulaney as Trip Hawkins (the Electronic Arts founder who launched the perennial Madden video game), Kathryn Hahn as Virginia Madden, and Sienna Miller as Carol Davis.
Russell is directing from a script he wrote, following an earlier version by Cambron Clark. The film follows Madden’s unusual journey. A lifelong teacher of football strategy, Madden reached the pinnacle of the coaching profession when his Raiders won the Super Bowl, but he had to walk away because the job was killing him. Though he’d never played a video game before, he found new purpose with EA, helping shape the player moves onscreen, and providing voiceover that created a better understanding of the game. That propelled him to work as a Madison Avenue pitchman and finally into the broadcast booth, and there has never been a better analyst, before or since.
Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch are producing alongside Jonathan Shukat, David O. Russell, Matthew Budman, and Colin Wilson. Escape Artists’ David Bloomfield will executive produce alongside SMAC Entertainment’s Michael Strahan and Constance Schwartz-Morini. The film is produced in association with Skydance Sports.
LOS ANGELES – JULY 12: NFL Analyst John Madden of “Monday Night Foodball” attends day one of the ABC Summer TCA Press Tour at the Century Plaza Hotel on June 12, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Content shared from deadline.com.