The world got its first glimpse of Nicolas Cage as John Madden on Thursday night.
Following Prime Video’s Christmas edition of Thursday Night Football between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs, the streamer released a teaser trailer for the upcoming Madden biopic, which chronicles the life of legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden, focusing on the origin story of the Madden NFL video game franchise. Cage will be joined by a star-studded cast of actors, as revealed in the trailer.
Christian Bale will play the role of legendary Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. John Mulaney will play Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins. Kathryn Hahn will play John Madden’s wife, Virginia. Sienna Miller will play Carol Davis. And Shane Gillis will appear in an unspecified role, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In recent years, the NFL has branded its Thanksgiving Day games around Madden, with the fourth annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration taking place last month. So it is fitting that Prime Video is scheduling this film for a Thanksgiving release.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s unclear whether the film will get a theatrical release or go straight to streaming.
Interestingly, it was not Cage who was the first choice to portray Madden in the film. Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell reportedly preferred Will Ferrell for the role. Hugh Jackman was also apparently considered.
Regardless, in the short clips of Cage as Madden, the National Treasure actor certainly looks the part. Cage appears much heavier in this film than in his typical roles, and the hair matches Madden to a T.
With the sheer number of A-listers in the cast, this movie will surely get a lot of buzz come next Thanksgiving.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.