Madden NFL Movie in Development With Will Ferrell as Madden and David O. Russell Directing

Will Ferrell is looking to team up with director David O. Russell for Madden, a biopic about football coach/commentator and video game icon John Madden, according to Deadline. 

IGN has reached out to Amazon, which is apparently distributing the movie with MGM, for comment.

Ferrell is reportedly circling the role of Madden himself as he transitions from sports commentator to runaway video game success story. More specifically, it will recount how Madden helped co-create Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL series, which has since become one of the world’s most profitable video game franchises. 

As of 2013, the Madden NFL franchise has grossed over $4 billion in sales, per a 2015 CNN report. Madden, who passed away in December 2021, served as a consultant for the series. 

Ferrell, a four-time Emmy winner best known for his stint on Saturday Night Live as well as his roles in various comedy films, is hot off the Apple TV+ projects Spirited and The Shrink Next Door. He will next appear as a Mattel CEO in Greta Gerwig’s Margot Robbie-led Barbie movie. 

Russell’s work as a writer/director includes Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and last year’s Amsterdam. His next film will be the Keke Palmer and Sacha Baron Cohen-starring Super Toys, which centers around two toy sales reps desperate road-tripping across Middle America.

Madden is based on a script from Cambron Clark.