“With my youngest son Anant’s passionate leadership and our foundation’s support, Vantara is restoring balance and preserving the intricate harmony of life. In Vantara’s rescue and rehabilitation centres, over 2,000 species of animals from all over the world have found a home,” said Nita Ambani
Nicolas Cage, the veteran actor is back and now he will portray one national treasure role. Cage is set to play John Madden, the late football coach and sports commentator, in Madden, a drama from Amazon MGM Studios which will be directed by David O. Russell, the filmmaker behind Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle.
“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. “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.”
Although this would be his first sports film, Cage‘s broad resume is riddled with a ton of high-octane action movies, so it’s easy to see why the directors would tap him for this role. There had been rumblings beforehand that Will Ferrell could be floated for a starring role, but aside from Cage’s attachment, no other decisions have been nailed down for casting.
The introduction of the project was announced early on by Prime Sports Original, with the big-name star talents collaborating on the film. Leading this production is Todd Black, followed by Escape Artists Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, and Jonathan Shukat. Contributing are Russell and Matthew Budman. With Escape Artists already set to prep a live-action adaptation of Amazon’s Masters of the Universe, this sports biopic gets added to that roster of high-profile projects.
The film will be based on the life of John Madden, larger than life across American sports. Madden died in 2021 at the age of 85. He was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders throughout the 1970s. His teams went to multiple championship games and captured their first Super Bowl win. After retiring from coaching in 1979, Madden went on to become an equally recognizable television personality as a color commentator, succumbing to the role for over thirty years. His influence reached outside the screen when he gave the name and creative inputs for the very famous video game franchise, Madden NFL, which continued even after his retirement from broadcasting in 2009.
He is an Academy Award-winning actor and remains a bankable film star in Hollywood. The latest exploits to the reel resume include the near-$100 million box office smash Longlegs, A24’s Dream Scenario, and the critically acclaimed drama Pig. With a string of intense, at-times indelible performances like these, Cage brings a certain je ne sais quoi that will lend to the portrayal of Madden.
This film will be helmed by Academy Award-nominated director David O. Russell, who directed American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, and The Fighter. It doesn’t matter that the filmmaker’s new film, Amsterdam, underperformed at the box office and only pulled in USD 31 million worldwide; Russell is a respected filmmaker. In addition to the Madden biopic, he has in development a Linda Ronstadt biopic starring Selena Gomez, along with a 1970s-set drama called Super Toys with Keke Palmer and Sacha Baron Cohen.
With Cage playing the title role and Russell behind the camera, this really unique and compelling narrative will come alive on screen, offering audiences a closer look at the life and legacy of John Madden. Having an accomplished actor and a well-praised director on board, this movie is sure to be one of the memorable works of both Cage and Russell.
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Gadar 2 director Anil Sharma has kept fans intrigued with his two upcoming promising installments, Gadar 3 and Apne 2. Recently, in an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, the director shared an update on the status of both films. In addition to this, he also shared extensive details about his upcoming project Vanvaas which stars Nana Patekar and his son Utkarsh Sharma.
After basking in the glorious success of Gadar 2, director Anil Sharma shifted gears to work on Vanvaas led by his son Utkarsh Sharma and Nana Patekar. Meanwhile, upon being asked about the status of Gadar 3, the veteran filmmaker revealed, “Gadar 3 ki abhi tayariyan chal rahi hain, kahaani chal rahi hai (The preparations are in full swing, and we’re working on the script).”
Sharma stated that he has currently been occupied with Vanvaas and once it gets released, he will then start planning Gadar 3. Further talking about the film, the Gadar 2 director called Vanvaas an “emotional Gadar” of the modern times. He stated that with his upcoming project, he is diving into the family genre again like his previous movies Shradhanjali, Bandhan Kuchchey Dhaagon Ka, and Apne, which were also appreciated by the audiences.
“Banaras mein hai, Kumbh hai aur bahut hi emotional trauma hai. Ye journey of life hai, har aadmi ka jeevan hai…har aadmi se connect karega (It is set in the backdrop of Banaras includes Kumbh. It is an emotional trauma and journey of life which every individual will be able to connect),” he further shared with us. The director also assured that it will be released by the end of this year, following which he will start working on Gadar 3.
During the conversation, when we asked him about Sunny Deol’s Apne 2, the filmmaker remained tight-lipped and said, “Hum baad mein baat karenge Apne 2 par (We will talk about Apne 2 later).”
Notably, Sharma asserted his belief in making sequels by bringing forward the original characters from the first part as he thinks audiences have already connected with them from the first part. However, if new characters are introduced, it will be a little difficult.
ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Gadar 2 ek film nahin, emotion hai’, says Anil Sharma as he celebrates 1 year of Sunny Deol starrer