Writer-director David O. Russell has set Nicolas Cage to star in Madden, the Amazon MGM Studios drama about the unlikely path that took John Madden from Super Bowl-winning Oakland Raiders head coach to the brains and brand behind Madden NFL. That paved the way for his rise to become arguably the greatest football broadcaster the NFL has ever seen.

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The slender Cage might not be the first person you would think of to play the lineman-sized Madden, but this continues an admirable second wind for the Oscar-winning actor. Cage has been taking on an array of widely different characters. He most recently shone in the horror hit Longlegs, and before that in Renfield, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pig and others. He has always thrown himself headfirst into these characters, and Madden will be a strong test of his skill set.