Madden, the David O. Russell-directed John Madden biopic starring Nic Cage, got its first full-length trailer today, and to be completely honest, I have no idea what to make of this movie. Based on the two minutes seen in the trailer, it could either be a subversive comedic delight or The Room 2, but with even more footballs and fewer tuxedos.
The trailer, which shows some of John Madden’s time as the head coach of the Raiders before shifting to broadcasting, gives us a very good look at the makeup and prosthetics that turned Nic Cage into the most famous NFL broadcaster of all time. Does he look like John Madden? No, but he does look like Nic Cage wearing John Madden’s face as his own, so perhaps this is a secret sequel to Face/Off.
Madden’s name is borderline synonymous with football video games today, and we get a brief look at how the game-development process began. This includes John Mulaney as EA founder Trip Hawkins, and we see how Madden was not interested in the original prototype, as it didn’t feature 11 players on a team.
David O. Russell hasn’t exactly been on a winning streak the last several years, with Amsterdam losing a whole bunch of money. Perhaps viewers’ morbid curiosity to see Nic Cage hamming it up as John Madden will improve its performance, but it’s getting a Prime Video release on November 18 rather than a theatrical one. How often Madden will mention Brett Favre remans unclear. Alongside Cage and Mulaney, the film stars Christian Bale, Shane Gillis, Kathryn Hahn, and Marshawn Lynch in an Urkel outfit.
