Here's a curveball for your Friday morning. Fresh off of a run of galvanising star turns in the likes of psychological horror Longlegs, indie drama Pig, and madcap meta comedy The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage is gearing up to play NFL icon John Madden in a new biopic for Amazon MGM Studios. Per Deadline's reporting, Cage has landed the lead role in writer-director David O. Russell's Madden, which will chart the American football commentator and coach's remarkable journey from winning the Super Bowl as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders to his extraordinary emergence as the face and name of video game mega-franchise Madden NFL.
Whilst O. Russell is no stranger to a biopic or two, having helmed the likes of Mark Wahlberg-starrer The Fighter and the Jennifer Lawrence led Joy, Madden will mark a rare foray into the field for Cage, whose most famous turn as a real person thus far is, well, probably as Nicolas Cage actually in The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent (sorry USS Indianapolis). As for just how strictly this movie will adhere to biopic convention however, that much remains to be seen, with reports intriguingly suggesting this is likely to be as much an origin story for the Madden video games as it is an out-and-out soup-to-nuts tale of John Madden's rise to prominence.
“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 American Hustle filmmaker O. Russell in a statement accompanying the film's announcement. “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.”
This Madden casting news marks the latest exciting booking for Cage, who only recently was confirmed to be reprising his role as Spider-Man Noir in Prime Video's upcoming live-action Spider-Verse series Spider-Noir. In terms of when we can expect to see that show however — or indeed this Madden movie — only time will tell, with no release dates or further casting news currently locked down. But whether Cage and O. Russell manage to take Madden to the end zone or wind up fumbling the biopic ball, colour us intrigued to watch and find out. Shoulder pads at the ready folks!