Will Ferrell is heading to the football field as Deadline has revealed that Will Ferrell is in talks to join Amazon/MGM’s Madden.
The controversial five-time Oscar nominee David O. Russell will helm the project, based on a Black List script by Cambron Clark with rewrites from Russell. The story will follow the story of football legend John Madden.
Per Deadline, “Madden tells the story of one of the larger-than-life personalities to grace an NFL sideline. All Madden ever wanted was to be a head coach, and he was one of the best ever. After winning the Super Bowl, the stress of the job began to destroy him. It forced him away from his dream job, and the film focuses on his friendship with Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis and how Madden found a second act that made him far more famous. He continued his passion for teaching Xs and Os in different ways. He redefined the notion of the football broadcaster with an outsized personality that led to a big endorsement career for Lite Beer from Miller, Tinactin, and other products.”
Adding, “Although he’d never played a video game in his life, Madden helped changed the videogame landscape when he became the figurehead for Madden NFL, a perennial top seller that this fall gets its 24th incarnation through Electronic Arts.”
Madden will be produced by Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jonathan Shukat, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch (co-owner of the New York Giants). Ferrell meanwhile will next appear in this summer’s Barbie as a Mattel CEO in the Greta Gerwig-directed film. He’ll also lend his voice to the R-rated comedy Strays, due out August 18th.
