A new biopic on the life of legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden is in the works, and the casting for the leading role couldn’t have been more perfect.
Nicolas Cage, an Oscar-winning actor whose illustrious film career spans five decades, will be playing the titular character in “Madden.” The release date for the film has not yet been announced, but it is being backed by Amazon MGM, according to Variety.
“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,” director, writer and producer David O. Russell said in a press release, per the article from Variety. “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.”
Among the other actors considered for the role were, per Variety, were Will Ferrell and Hugh Jackman.
It’s a truly iconic casting decision as Cage is notable for playing unique and eccentric roles. Now, he’ll take on the task of portraying the Super Bowl-winning former head coach of the Oakland Raiders, who subsequently spent 30 years as an NFL broadcaster and serves as the namesake for the long-running “Madden NFL” video game franchise.
If you gave me infinite guesses who is set to play John Madden in ‘Madden’ biopic, I still wouldn’t get it.
If someone gave me infinite guesses as to who would be laying John Madden in a movie about his life, I wouldn’t have guessed who was just chosen to play him. Any guesses? Yeah, well, you’re wrong.
It’s Nicolas Cage.
Variety reports that Amazon MGM is backing the film and Director David O. Russell has tabbed Cage to play the iconic Hall of Fame Raiders coach and video game mogul.
“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,” O. Russell said in a statement. “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.”
No knock on Cage. He may end up doing a great job in the role. But Cage is pretty much a character himself. And that character shows up in pretty much every role he ever plays. It’s one that’s very different than that of John Madden.
With Cage getting this role, I can’t help but think of a certain scene from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in which Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself going through a bit of a crisis in his acting career.
In the scene, he wants a role in a film so bad, he corners the director at the valet stand at a restaurant in Hollywood and does a brilliantly terrible impromptu audition for the lead role in the Director’s next film.
If you have seen it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you haven’t seen that movie, you need to see that movie. He and Pedro Pascal are electric and hilarious together.
At very least, it will be impossible not to be insanely curious to see what Cage can do with this role. Because I am finding it impossible to imagine.
Who will play John Madden in a biographical drama about the coach’s life?
A biographical drama is in the works about legendary Oakland Raiders coach and famed broadcaster John Madden. The decision on who will play the great Madden has been decided and it is … actor Nicolas Cage, per Variety.
Nicolas Cage will portray John Madden, the legendary American football coach and sports commentator, in “Madden,” a biographical drama from director David O. Russell. https://t.co/8r8Ev3TULn
“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,” director David O. Russell said in a statement. “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.”
Madden, who died in 2021 at the age of 85, led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship. He was 112-39-7 as a head coach before retiring.
Madden was a football analyst for NBC after also holding the same position for ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” Fox and CBS.
Full Cage is all that you could ever want from the 59-year-old actor. There’s no one that does unhinged yelling about bees or stuffed animals or swapping faces than Nicolas Cage, so let’s take a look at his most Full Cage movies.
This is a very scientific ranking (read: I did it on a whim and based on my feelings), so please treat it as such.
WARNING: Some of these clips may have language that is NSFW.
Nicolas Cage is a fantastic Dracula in the new horror-comedy Renfield.
As much as the new horror-comedy Renfield wants to key in on the hilarity of Dracula’s long-suffering assistant standing up to his boss, Nicolas Cage can’t help but bring the heat.
Indeed, Renfield‘s first aim is to amp up the absurdity of its amicable title character (Nicholas Hoult) deciding that it’s time to tell Count Dracula (Cage) that he’s tired of his putrid working conditions and the legendary vampire’s snarling attitude and lack of gratitude.
However, thanks to an impressively realized performance from the Oscar-winning Cage as the nefarious bloodsucker, Renfield finds something deeper, much more sinister in the nature of toxic relationships and in the terror that the famous vampire has brought to the silver screen for generations.
In what is Cage’s first major studio project in ages, the actor brings his patented blend of German Expressionism and Japanese kabuki theater to the Bela Lugosi/Christopher Lee austerity of Dracula. Cage’s Drac is a grade-A jerk, a bloodthirsty shadow-dweller who wants to take over the world for some reason and slash and dash anyone who gets in his way.
Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures
Cage’s manic performances have always been rooted in rigorous acting styles, ones that force off-kilter facial expressions and wily vocal inflections to create something outlandish that’s actually quite focused in on raw emotion and plot-centered gravitas. He stretches the possibility of the performance to make it more memorable and to make his films more lively. Even if he doesn’t always hit the mark, you’ll never accuse Cage of being boring, and you might appreciate his energy more after the credits roll.
The actor understands the assignment in Renfield as well as anyone could, creating a theatrical Dracula that’s seeped in menace and pettiness. He’ll draw you in with an anglerfish’s charm and bite you with an apex predator’s hunger. It’s one of the all-time portrayals of Transylvania’s worst in a movie.
Outside of Cage’s brilliant villainy, Renfield is plenty of fun. Filmmaker Chris McKay understands what he’s got in Cage and Hoult, who takes the nice-guy vibes Renfield gives off and meshes them with the hysterically uncomfortable nature of his macabre job (finding victims for Dracula to feed on).
McKay also wisely allots the dorkier aspects of the film room to breathe, like the ancient Renfield ditching his Victorian garb for a Macy’s sweater and using those cheesy motivational posters you see at dental offices to decorate his away-from-Dracula apartment.
It’s a tonal lurch through Dracula’s castle at midnight to try and balance all of these genres, but Cage gets it more than most any actors could. He knows how to bring the horror and lean in on the gag all in one take, and McKay’s hyper-violent fight sequences rarely detract from their inherent silliness of Renfield’s quest. Hoult’s chipper demeanor in the face of buckets of blood around him only heightens what Renfield is trying to do.
Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures
Anything else going on in the movie takes a backseat to whatever Cage and Hoult are doing. Awkwafina leads a subplot through a dedicated cop taking on a New Orleans crime syndicate that Dracula later teams up with, and she does what she’s asked and admirably plays it straight when it really could’ve been easy not to with all the vampire-ness and such.
Everything falls on the Renfield-Dracula dynamic. That duo brings some hearty chuckles, like when Dracula hides out at Renfield’s apartment while sipping on a bloody martini with eyeball ice cubes. They also find the film’s best moments of freakiness, like when Dracula terrorizes Renfield’s emotional support group one unfortunate night.
It’s a fascinating idea to explore the nature of bad bosses and toxic partners through the lens of one of horror’s most notable pairings, but Renfield does enough outside of its lead performances to give folks a bloody good time at the movies. Thanks to Cage and Hoult, the film’s bite has more meaning.
“It’s Nic Cage,” Rodgers told a delighted throng of reporters. “Somebody just sent this to me yesterday with no message.”
Aaron Rodgers received a mysterious package this week. In true Aaron Rodgers fashion, the three-time MVP who spent previous offseasons ingesting hallucinogenics and flushing out his system with clarified butter wasn’t afraid to open it up and take a look at what was inside.
And this is how Aaron Rodgers, Packers quarterback, wound up with a bust of Nicolas Cage, Academy Award-winning actor and crazy person, inside his locker at Green Bay training camp.
Weeks after channeling the lesser god of bizarre acting choices by showing up to his first practice dressed as Con Air hero Cameron Poe, Rodgers took his Cage appreciation one step further. He graced the Packers’ locker room with the a less-than-lifelike approximation of the star behind Leaving Las Vegas, Raising Arizona, The Wicker Man and The Humanity Bureau.
“It’s Nic Cage,” Rodgers told a delighted throng of reporters after Tuesday’s practice. “Somebody just sent this to me yesterday with no message.”
After someone in the crowd suggested it could be a spy camera, Rodgers noted “it might be” before placing it back in his locker. This is wonderful news for the rest of the NFC North, who now know the easiest way to spy on the reigning champs’ locker room is to mail Aaron Rodgers some dumb crap.
On Thursday we were treated to our first look at the trailer for Pig, a movie that stars Nicolas Cage as a former fine dining chef who goes on a revenge mission for his missing truffle pig.
Every word I just wrote is real.
The film appears to be a fusion of Chef’s Table and John Wick, an inspired pairing I must admit, one that I will enjoy with a ’00 Château Pontet-Canet…
… that I will chug straight from the bottle in between screams at Nic Cage to bash those truffle-pig-stealing jerks’ heads in. THEY STOLE THAT MAN’S TRUFFLE PIG. HE WILL NOT JUST BUY A NEW PIG. HE WILL MAKE THEM PAY FOR THE PIG. THEY ALL MUST PAY FOR THE PIG.
The pig movie comes out July 16. I wait with bated breath.
The Cleveland Indians apparently had a long-running gag involving Nicolas Cage throughout the 2019 season.
The Cleveland Indians revealed on Wednesday that the team’s social media crew ran an elaborate gag involving photos of Nicolas Cage throughout the 2019 MLB season and absolutely no one noticed.
According to the Indians’ Twitter account, Cage was hidden in 39 different game lineup cards that were tweeted out over the course of 2019. Cage could be anywhere – in the background posing as a fan, or expertly hidden in a player’s uniform. The Indians went to great lengths to make it so that you’d probably never notice Cage unless you were actively scanning the lineup card, and it appears that no one ever did.
The revelation sent fans searching through the Twitter archive to try and spot Cage for themselves. Twitter’s embedding situation is… not the best, but you can click to expand these photos and see if you can find Nic Cage. The first one is a doozy.
Just want to let you know that we hid Nicolas Cage in (39) of our lineup graphics last year.
We snuck it by you! You didn't even notice!
It's our greatest treasure.
Go on a scavenger hunt if you please. We will send master hunters a letter of congratulations. pic.twitter.com/4qq3BnSxBK
