Prime Video dropped the first trailer for David O. Russell's Madden, casting Nicolas Cage as the coach who became football's voice and built a gaming empire.
UPI reported that Prime Video released a two-minute preview Thursday for the sports film, which puts Cage in the role of legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden.
Christian Bale plays Al Davis, Madden's longtime partner with the Raiders. The cast also includes Kathryn Hahn, Sienna Miller, John Mulaney, and Shane Gillis.
The movie hits theaters on Nov. 11. It streams on Prime Video a week later, on Nov. 18.
Prime Video's synopsis frames the film as the story of a full American arc. It chronicles Madden's journey with Davis, “from a Super Bowl-winning partnership with the Raiders, to becoming football's most recognizable voice, to building the worldwide Madden NFL video game.”
In the preview, Madden is seen screaming his love for the sport.
The figure on screen delivers the line with full force:
"I love this game!"
Other lines in the trailer lean hard into work and staying in the fight. The character says:
"My dad says once you start working, you'll never stop,"
And then:
"Get away with doing what you love as long as you possibly can."
Those are simple lines. They also track with the public image Madden built over decades as a coach, a television voice, and the namesake of a video game franchise that turned football into a living-room habit for millions of fans.
David O. Russell is attached as director of the project, described as his new sports film. Cage takes the title role. Bale's Davis is positioned as Madden's best friend and a “true original,” in the language of the studio synopsis.
The Raiders partnership sits at the center of the pitch. So does the later chapter in which Madden became the face and sound of the sport for a national audience, then put his name on the Madden NFL game that spread far beyond any single stadium.
Hahn, Miller, Mulaney, and Gillis round out the billed ensemble. The first look does not spell out every supporting part. It does make clear the studio is selling star power alongside the football legend's life story.
The Thursday trailer is the first official preview. Runtime of that cut is two minutes. Theatrical play begins Nov. 11, with the Prime Video debut set for Nov. 18.
Madden's path, coach, champion, broadcaster, brand, is the kind of climb Hollywood usually softens. The early footage instead leans on sweat, volume, and a blunt work ethic. That is closer to how a lot of fans already remember him.
