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Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale as John Madden and Al Davis first look revealed

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones05/14/25brianjones_93
Nicolas Cage Christian Bale
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images// Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale will play John Madden and Al Davis in the new film Madden, and a first look at their characters has been revealed. Amazon MGM Studios released a photo of Cage and Bale as Madden and Davis. Nicolas Cage is seen in the Raiders jacket while holding a football, and Christian Bale is seen wearing a gray jacket, black pants and the famous shades. Cage and Bale are also showing off the Super Bowl rings the NFL legends won together.

“The film follows Madden’s remarkable journey—from his Super Bowl-winning partnership with Al Davis and the Raiders, to creating Madden NFL, and becoming one of the most iconic voices in football history,” Amazon MGM Studios said in its social media post. David O. Russell is directing the film and wrote the script. Russell is also a producer of the film.

Madden also stars John Mulaney as Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts. Hawkins helped launch the Madden NFL video game series from EA Sports. The rest of the cast includes Kathryn Hahn as Virginia Madden, and Sienna Miller as Carol Davis.

More on John Madden and Al Davis

According to IMDB, Madden began filming this week in Atlanta and will continue until July 20. Before Cage was selected to play Madden, Will Ferrell was considered for the role.

John Madden was known for his work as an NFL head coach and commentator. As a head coach for the Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders) for 10 seasons (1969-78), the California native won 103 games, led the team to the playoffs nine times, appeared in the AFL/AFC Championship game seven times and won the Super Bowl during the 1976 season.

In 1979, Madden moved to broadcasting and worked for CBS, FOX, ABC and NBC during his 29-year career. As a broadcaster, he won 16 Emmy Awards and was named Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association in 1984. Madden was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He died at the age of 85 in 2021.

Al Davis was the owner of the Raiders for 39 years (1972-2011). During his time as owner, the Raiders won three Super Bowls and played in another in 2002. Davis was also the head coach of the Raiders for three seasons and posted a 23-16 record. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992 and died in 2011 at the age of 82.