Word is a John Madden biopic is moving forward from Amazon and MGM with David O. Russell (American Hustle) in the director's chair, and a big star may be on board to play the late NFL coach and commentator. According to Deadline, Will Ferrell (Spirited) is in early talks to potentially portray Madden in the biopic. The film had its script, penned by Cambron Clark, named as part of The Black List last year. It will be produced by Todd Black of Escape Artists.
The report also notes that the biopic is tentatively titled as Madden. While Madden rose to fame with his work on the field, Madden will primarily focus on the period of time when he left the NFL to team up with Electronic Arts to pioneer one of video game history's most successful and enduring franchises. He first lent his name and voice to the Madden video game series in 1988, and the franchise endures to this day with Madden NFL 23 getting released last year.
This project seems to be separate from a biopic series for Madden that was announced in February. At that time, it was reported that a limited series was in development from director Gavin O'Connor and writer Alex Sohn. Tom Brady was also said to be an executive producer. The series is reportedly intended to chronicle Madden's NFL career as opposed to putting the focus on his video game endeavors. The current status of that project, which was initially conceived as a feature film, is not clear, but Brady teased that it would take as many episodes as needed to fully cover everything in Madden's career.
"When you look at the contribution he made on the field as a football coach, to the transformation of two industries, broadcasting and video games, I just didn’t know how to do that in two hours. How many episodes? That will be dictated by the story, but it’s the three football businesses he was in that we’re going to be exploring," Brady said of the series.
John Madden Is Getting the Biopic Treatment
Ferrell, who rose to fame with his comedy work on Saturday Night Live, has been keeping very busy lately with other projects. He recently appeared in the holiday musical film Spirited with Ryan Reynolds. He is also part of the ensemble cast of Greta Gerwig's Barbie, which recently put the internet into a frenzy again with the release of its latest trailer. Ferrell, who previously appeared in beloved films like Elf, Step Brothers, and Anchorman, also voices a dog alongside Jamie Foxx in the upcoming R-rated comedy Strays and has a role in Todd Haynes' new film May December, which premiered at Cannes.
Russell is also known for his acclaimed film work, having earned Oscar nominations for his movies Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. He's previously worked with Ferrell as well as an executive producer on the original Anchorman movie. More recently, the I Heart Huckabees and The Fighter helmer directed Amsterdam, a period film released last year that featured a strong ensemble cast that included Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock, and Anya Taylor-Joy.
Madden does not yet have a release date and it's unclear when filming will begin.