Limited biographical series All Madden about John Madden in development

John Madden's career becomes the subject of a limited series directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Alex Sohn (Vegas (2012)). The life story of the Raiders head coach, announcer and Hall of Fame video game icon is joined by Todd Lieberman's Hidden Pictures, Lit Entertainment Group's Adam Kolbrenner, Religion of Sports' Gotham Chopra, Ryan Stowell and Tom Brady's 199 Productions .

The latter's presence as executive producer was particularly important to Madden's family, as they have committed their lives to the project. The filmmakers will find a broadcast partner once they are done with the scripted episodes and then they will find their Madden.

“If Dad was still around, and he was looking for a few guys to huddle up and tell his story, he’d be thrilled to have Tom Brady leading the huddle,” said Mike Madden.

They produce All Madden in collaboration with the late Madden's family, Sandy Montag and The Montag Group. In addition to hit movies like The Accountant, O'Connor is familiar with sports themes like The Way Back, the MMA drama Warrior, and Miracle, the story of Herb Brooks, who coached a group of amateur hockey players to the Olympic gold medal against the invincible team of the Soviet Union. .

The series chronicles the vast life and career of the NFL icon and his rise from humble beginnings to an indelible mark on football, broadcasting, video games and pop culture. But behind storied and larger-than-life coaching careers, including a Super Bowl Xl victory, and an on-camera reputation for speaking to the mainstream fan - he won sixteen Emmy Awards - Madden is a simple yet supremely intelligent man; with an unwavering commitment to excellence, he ultimately seeks to connect with people on a human level.



As an announcer, Madden (pictured) changed the game forever. First paired with another big one, Bob Costas - Madden thought he was an intern and Costas wondered what Madden was doing when they started - Madden quickly became a breath of fresh air, making viewers smarter about the game and making the whole thing more fun . His manic Telestrator work - showing on screen how a game developed and why it did or didn't work - along with his sound effects - Boom! - influenced the way every football game is called, even today. His combination with former great Pat Summerall is probably the best combination ever.

Said the recently retired future HOF quarterback Tom Brady: “I grew up admiring John Madden, first as a coach, then as a commentator. I loved John’s passion for the game, especially his insatiable appetite for educating audiences about football. He welcomed fans with that warm smile, infectious laugh, and exceptional knowledge of the game, making everyone feel as if John were watching the broadcast right next to them on their living room sofa. On behalf of 199 Productions, I’m honored to collaborate with Virginia and Mike Madden, my co-founder at Religion of Sports, Gotham Chopra, and the rest of the creative team, in telling the iconic story of a family man who revolutionized not only the game but the culture of football.”

The project was initiated as a feature film, but like Madden himself, his life and contributions to America’s most popular sport was too big for a two hour treatment.

“Initially when the conversations began, we were going to do this as a film but the deeper myself and Alex climbed inside John’s life, it just became clear it would be impossible to reduce his football life to a two hour movie. When you look at the contribution he made on the field as a football coach, to the transformation of two industries, broadcasting and video games, I just didn’t know how to do that in two hours. How many episodes? That will be dictated by the story, but it’s the three football businesses he was in that we’re going to be exploring.”

Hidden Pictures Chairman Alex Young, David Glickman, Kendrick Tan and Sean Sansiveri will co-produce. Henry Cheatham oversees the project for Religion of Sports.