Amazon’s Madden First Look Shows Nicolas Cage as the Coach, Broadcaster, and Gaming Icon

Amazon’s next big video game adaptation is a movie about John Madden, and specifically about the video game series from Electronic Arts. Production on Madden began earlier this week, with actor Nicolas Cage playing Madden himself. Additionally, the cast will include Christian Bale (Al Davis), John Mulaney (Trip Hawkins), Sienna Miller (Carol Davis), and Kathryn Hahn (Virginia Madden). To celebrate the start, Amazon MGM Studios released a first image for the movie to Deadline, offering a glimpse at Cage’s transformation into the football legend. The still doesn’t reveal much, but it does give us a glimpse at both Madden and Davis in the movie.

As we saw with the Apple TV+ Tetris film, Madden will attempt to retell the events surrounding the creation of video game series. The movie will follow the end of Madden’s career as a football coach, and how he became involved with Electronic Arts and Trip Hawkins. It’s unclear how closely the film will follow the real events that shaped the video game series, and if the movie will take a lot of creative liberties as we saw with Tetris. Madden will be directed by David O. Russell, who previously worked with Bale on American Hustle.

The last few years have seen a video game adaptation gold rush, as studios have desperately looked for the next franchise to bring to film and television. There have been a wide range of success stories over the last few years, including films like A Minecraft Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as shows like The Last of Us. Amazon has had its own hit with Fallout, and the company has been looking to grow in this regard. The company’s attempted Tomb Raider adaptation was reportedly cancelled last month, but Madden looks to be moving along nicely.

The Madden franchise is one of the biggest names in all of gaming. EA’s yearly releases are some of the industry’s biggest, with the series consistently topping sales charts. From that standpoint, a movie based specifically on the creation of the games seems like a smart move on the part of Amazon MGM Studios. However, it remains to be seen whether fans of the games will have any interest in watching a dramatization about the creation of the franchise.

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Hopefully Madden will prove enjoyable for both dedicated fans of the video game series, as well as those that have never played an entry. It’s a tough balance to strike for any adaptation, and it’s particularly challenging when a company gets the rights to a popular game series that doesn’t have a narrative. Sony’s efforts to adapt its Gran Turismo games to the big screen took a different path, and reception to the resulting movie was largely negative.

How do you feel about a movie based on the Madden video games? What do you think about Cage playing John Madden? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!