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Will Ferrell in talks to star in Madden movie for Amazon

The Madden film will chronicle the origin of EA's long-running video game series.

Donovan Erskine

May 26, 2023 12:55 PM

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There are a lot of video game movie adaptations in the works, and a pretty notable sports franchise just joined that list. According to a report, Will Ferrell is in early talks to play the legendary John Madden in a movie about the origin of the EA video game series, which is currently in early development at Amazon.

The news of the upcoming Madden film came from Deadline. According to the publication, Will Ferrell is in negotiations to star in the film, and David O. Russell is on board to direct it. The movie was written by Cambron Clark.

The movie will apparently take place after John Madden’s coaching days, during his legendary run as a broadcaster and analyst. Specifically, it will take a look at his partnership with EA and the birth of the Madden NFL video game series, which is still one of the publisher’s most successful annual titles.

There are myriad video game movies in the works at nearly every major studio and streaming service in Hollywood. Even with that, a Madden movie still feels like a surprising pick. John Madden passed away in December 2021 at 85 years old.

Neither Amazon nor any of the other related parties have commented on the reports of the Madden movie. Interestingly enough, we’re likely not far away from the inevitable reveal of Madden NFL 24, the next entry in the series. It’s unclear if there will be any promotional tie-in between the upcoming game and movie.

Add the Will Ferrell and David O. Russell Madden film to the long list of video game adaptations to keep track of. Be sure to visit our topic page dedicated to Madden for more on the video game series and the reported film.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_