Actor Nicolas Cage will play NFL coaching legend John Madden in a new Amazon Prime biopic that is shooting in Atlanta beginning in late April.
“Madden” will focus on Madden coaching the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s.
“After winning the Super Bowl, the stress of the job began to destroy him,” the production company noted. “It forced him away from his dream job, and the film focuses on his friendship with Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, and how Madden found a second act that made him far more famous.”
He became a popular TV football commentator and played an influential role in the creation of the iconic “Madden NFL” video game series. According to the production company, “the narrative highlights his enduring impact on both professional football and popular culture.”
Madden died in 2021 at age 85.
The film is set to begin production April 24, according to information provided to the local IATSE 479 crew union.
“Madden” will be directed by David O. Russell, who is known for award-winning films such as “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle.”
While there is no obvious resemblance between Cage and Madden, the very prolific Cage has tackled a wide array of roles over the past four-plus decades in a variety of genres. This is the first time he’ll be playing a famous person in a biopic. (Although he did play an amusing version of himself in the 2022 movie “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”)
No other casting decisions have been announced.
Cage, 61, last shot a film in Georgia with the 2021 horror film “Willy’s Wonderland.”
The home base for “Madden” will be Shadowbox Studios in Atlanta. Recent movies that have used Shadowbox include the Amazon rom-com “You’re Cordially Invited” starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, the Netflix drama “The Piano Lesson” featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler and Apple TV+’s “Fly Me to the Moon” with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum.
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