Theatre arts was surprisingly top of mind for Mark Davis on Thursday afternoon.
Reports just broke that Nicolas Cage will play NFL and broadcasting legend John Madden in the biopic “Madden.” The Amazon-MGM Studios project is being developed by filmmaker David O. Russell (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter).
The film focuses on the still-big-time Madden NFL video game series. As the story description on entertainment industry website IMDB Pro puts it, “After being forced into retirement by the Oakland Raiders, hotheaded former NFL head coach John Madden teams up with a mild-mannered Harvard programmer to rewrite a fading legend by developing the world’s first football video game.”
Davis said he wants to see Madden, who led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory, treated fairly. He reminded that Madden retired after 10 seasons as coach. Madden passed away in December 2021.
“There’s a lot of revisionism in history, especially when you make a movie about someone after they’ve died,” Davis said. “John has a crazy story: He quit coaching because he was afraid of flying. He was blue in the face. But after he quit coaching, he built a great new career as an analyst and became famous for playing video games.”
“If he’s like John, I think he can do it,” Davis said of Cage, who lives in Las Vegas. “I thought he was fantastic in David Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart.’ He won an Oscar (for ‘Leaving Las Vegas.’) I think that’s fantastic.”
The story will also delve deeper into Madden’s friendship with legendary Raiders owner Al Davis, though Davis has yet to appear. A release date for the film has also yet to be announced.
While talking about the film, Davis said, “Acting is a unique and special talent. You never know who’s going to be a great actor,” before changing the topic: “Look at Carl Weathers. When he was with the Raiders, you had no idea what he could become as an actor.”
Davis said he will attend Weathers’ posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiling ceremony on Aug. 29. Weathers died in February at age 76. He became a key movie star with the first four “Rocky” films from 1976 to 1985.
“Karl was at the torch lighting ceremony last year and he was still intimidating,” Davis said of the Al Davis Memorial Torch event held before the Raiders-Texans game on Oct. 23. “He still had a powerful presence. He was like a star. It was an honor to be a part of an event that honored him.”
Cool Hang Alert
Silver and Black and art aside, David Perico and the Raiders house band will play Myron’s at the Smith Center on Friday at 7 p.m., the night before their preseason debut at Allegiant Stadium. The A-plus line-up has backed such big names as Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Beyoncé, Rod Stewart, Terry Fator, Donny and Marie Osmond, Andrea Bocelli, Shania Twain, Diana Ross, Santana and Marc Anthony. They’ve also performed in Cirque du Soleil productions, where Perico met them in 2009 as musicians for “Viva Elvis!” at the Aria. In football terms, the show stumbled in the red zone.
John Katsilometes’ column appears daily in Section A. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow us! Johnny Katz @JohnnyKats1 on X and @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.