You won't believe Nicolas Cage's transformation into NFL Legend John Madden
Amazon MGM Studios has released a first-look photo from the set of 'Madden,' which stars Nicolas Cage as legendary Bay Area football coach and broadcaster John Madden and Christian Bale as Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
The film, directed by David O. Russell, began principal photography Tuesday, May 13, in Atlanta.
'That's new for me and completely out of my comfort zone,' Cage told the Chronicle during a recent interview. 'I've never been in a sports movie of this magnitude, and I've certainly never played anyone like John Madden. I can't think of a character that's further removed from me than Madden, so that is certainly challenging.'
The photo shows Cage's Madden wearing a Raiders jacket, and Bale with Davis' trademark wire-rimmed glasses and high-forehead look. They each are thrusting a fist toward the camera with what appear to be Super Bowl championships rings on their fingers. In the background is a replica of the Oakland Coliseum.
Madden, who grew up in Daly City, was head coach of the Raiders from 1969-1978, winning Super Bowl XI after the 1976 season for the franchise's first of three championships. He later became a broadcaster (catch phrases included 'Boom!', 'Whap!', 'Bang!' and 'Doink!') and video game entrepreneur, putting his name on the Madden NFL series. He died at his home in Pleasanton in 2021 at age 85.
Davis, whose enduring motto was 'Just win, baby,' first began his association with the Raiders in 1963, the franchise's fourth season, as head coach and general manager. He took over ownership of the team in 1972 and ran it until his death in 2011 at age 82.
His son, Mark Davis, now owns the Raiders and moved the team to Las Vegas after the 2019 season.
'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,' Russell said in a statement when the project was announced in August. '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.'
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USA Today
15 minutes ago
- USA Today
FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Group stage schedule, odds, TV and live streaming options
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Group Stage : June 14-June 26 : June 14-June 26 Round of 16 : June 28-July 1 : June 28-July 1 Quarterfinals : July 4-5 : July 4-5 Semifinals : July 8-9 : July 8-9 Finals: July 13 What teams are in FIFA Club World Cup? There are 32 teams in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup that have been separated into eight groups of four for the round-robin group stage in June. 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USA Today
23 minutes ago
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Wednesday, June 11 marks exactly one year until the FIFA World Cup officially returns to the United States for the first time since that memorable 1994 experience. Canada and Mexico also will serve as co-hosts next year, with the first games of the tournament scheduled to take place in Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 11, 2026. The United States and Canada will play their first games of the group stage on June 12, 2026, with matches slated for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and BMO Field in Toronto. GOLD CUP: USMNT goalkeeper to miss Gold Cup with knee injury A lot of has changed within the American soccer infrastructure over the past 31 years, beginning with the introduction of Major League Soccer in the aftermath of the sport's surging popularity coming off the first American-hosted World Cup. 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But I said, 'ok, well four years from now, if we continue to improve in this fashion, we're going to be pretty good' and we've kind of pumped the breaks a little bit on that. But I'm steadfast on this team will be good enough at the World Cup.' USA TODAY: What is a realistic goal for success for the U.S. men's national team at the 2026 World Cup? Tony Meola: 'If we were in a quarterfinal in 2002, we need to surpass that. That's the next step for me. I don't know if I'll measure success (that way). It's the World Cup. Your team could play great and, like, we got a bad call in that game against Germany (in 2002), that could happen here in the tournament. That doesn't mean you played poorly. It just means something didn't go your way. But me, personally, the next great national team will be the team that gets to a semifinal of the World Cup. That's just my personal opinion. Other people will judge it other ways. But that's how I'll judge it.' USA TODAY: Do you have a favorite moment from the 1994 World Cup? Tony Meola: 'I hope the players have the feeling that we had when that final whistle blew against Colombia. If you go back and look at those pictures of the Rose Bowl and you look at the flags being thrown on the field to the players, I hope there's a moment like that for this group in 2026 because I can still feel the ground underneath my feet right now when I talk about it and mention it. I can feel Thomas Dooley jumping on my shoulders. I still can feel that moment and it doesn't matter if you played at the biggest club in Europe or the smallest team in the world. Those moments you'll never forget.' The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports' newsletter.
USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Joe Theismann discusses the Kansas City Chiefs' mindset playing in consecutive Super Bowls
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