Nicolas Cage to portray football icon John Madden in upcoming biopic

This time, Nicolas Cage will be playing a national treasure.

The famed actor is set to portray the late football coach and TV analyst John Madden in an upcoming biopic, the film’s director David O. Russell said in a statement on Thursday.

The news comes nearly three years after the Super Bowl-winning coach died at 85 years old .

“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 the statement.

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“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.”

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No other casting decisions for the movie have been made aside from Cage, though Will Ferrell was rumored to be in the mix to play the titular role.

Cage, the “Face/Off” and “Con Air” star, is not known for being in sports flicks, but he does have plenty of action movies on his film resume.

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The Amazon MGM drama was written by Russell — an Oscar-nominated director of “The Fighter” and “Silver Linings Playbook” — and will include partners from the film production company Escape Artist helping produce the film, per multiple reports.

Among the Escape Artists partners involved in the film is Steve Tisch, chairman, co-owner and executive vice president of the Giants.

Tisch has a long list of credits as a producer, and after “Forrest Gump” won best picture in 1994, he became the first person to win both a Super Bowl ring and an Oscar .

A release date for the movie has not yet been announced.

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