Are you ready for some football? The first look at Nicolas Cage as legendary NFL coach/commentator John Madden, alongside Christian Bale as Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, has hit the gridiron.
As seen in the picture (supplied by Deadline), Nicolas Cage’s John Madden and Christian Bale’s Al Davis are both flaunting Super Bowl rings. As Madden served as the Raiders’ head coach from 1969 – 1978, that would put this picture sometime after the team’s Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings. That would be Madden’s only Super Bowl win, although Davis would go on to win it again in 1981 and 1984 (after the Raiders moved to Los Angeles.
Joining Cage and Bale in Madden will be Kathryn Hahn as John’s wife Virginia, Sienna Miller as Al’s wife Carol and John Mulaney as Trip Hawkins, who founded Electronic Arts, the company that launched the prolific Madden NFL series back in 1988. David O. Russell will be directing, making this just the latest of real-life subjects that Russell has tackled, following Joy, American Hustle, The Fighter, and more.
On directing Madden – and in particular what he knows Cage will be bringing to the project – Russell previously stated, “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. 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.”
Nicolas Cage has portrayed real-life figures before but never anyone as generation-crossing as John Madden, who is well-known by boomers for his contributions to professional football but also teens as the namesake for the game series. At one point, Will Ferrell was in talks to star in the movie, but we fully expect Cage to deliver in a manner that will connect with viewers and do Madden justice.
What do you think of the first look at Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale in Madden? Will you be checking it out?
