Nicolas Cage transforms into NFL star John Madden in new biopic

Actor will star in forthcoming film celebrating acclaimed coach’s impressive career

Amazon MGM has unveiled the first look at Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale in their roles as NFL football stars John Madden and Al Davis for the forthcoming biopic, Madden.

Directed by David O Russell (American Hustle, Three Kings, The Fighter), the film will follow Madden’s journey from coaching the Oakland Raiders ahead of the 1976 Super Bowl to his commentator career, which saw him win 16 Sports Emmys over a 30-year period.

Madden, who died aged 85 in 2021, holds the highest winning percentage of any NFL head coach who served for at least 100 games. He is considered to be one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He is also known by millions for the football video game series named after him, which first launched in 1988 after Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins approached him with the idea. It has become one of the most successful gaming franchises of all time and has sold more than 130 million copies.

The biopic, written by Russell and based on an earlier script by Cambron Clark (The Last Ride), will star John Mulaney as EA founder Hawkins, Kathryn Hahn as Madden’s wife Virginia and Sienna Miller as Carol Davis – the wife of the Raiders owner played by Bale.

In first-look imagery, Cage can be seen in a black Raiders jacket and holding an American football with a stern look on his face.

Christian Bale as Al Davis and Nicolas Cage as John Madden in 'Madden' (Chuck Zlotnick)

Meanwhile, Bale, whose hair is styled in a dramatic quiff, grins at the camera as both men punch out their fists to display glittering Super Bowl rings in a football stadium.

The film will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios, which is yet to announce a projected release date. However, production has begun in Atlanta, Georgia.

Madden died aged 85 in 2021 (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu)

Announcing Cage’s casting last August, Russell said: “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.”