Nicolas Cage will play John Madden in Madden NFL film

Biopics and video game adaptations are two perennial Hollywood favorites, and Amazon MGM is combining the two with Madden, which will star Nicolas Cage as the Oakland Raiders head coach and voice of the Madden NFL video game series.

Madden will be directed by David O. Russell, who’s received Academy Award nominations for Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle which means we can likely expect a mix of drama and dark comedy. (Actor Will Ferrell was previously considered to portray John Madden in Russell’s biopic.)

The film began production in Atlanta on Tuesday. It follows Madden’s career leading the Raiders to a still-unbeaten winning record and Super Bowl XI victory, with Christian Bale playing team owner Al Davis. The first production still shows the duo on the field flashing their Super Bowl rings.

Madden followed his coaching career by becoming a NFL commentator across major networks, winning 16 Sports Emmy Awards. That attracted the attention of Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, who will be played by Emmy-winning actor and comedian John Mulaney. Hawkins’ idea of making a realistic sports game became John Madden Football, later rebranded as Madden NFL, one of the most successful and influential video game franchises of all time.

Madden will also feature Agatha All Along star Kathryn Hahn as Virginia Madden and Sienna Miller (Anatomy of a Scandal, The Lost City of Z) as Raiders co-owner Carol Davis. No release date has been set yet. 

This is a big week for Cage fans. Yesterday Amazon MGM also dropped the first teaser for Spider-Noir, where he’ll be reprising his role from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in live action and in both black and white and color. That series is expected to release in 2026.