The legacy of John Madden is one that countless people know, even if they don’t know the first thing about US football. From a Super Bowl-winning coach to revitalizing the way that strategies can be taught and implemented, being a larger-than-life broadcasting personality, and changing the video game industry forever despite never playing one himself, he had a very established life. On top of that, it’s one worth respectfully immortalizing in the form of a movie that David O. Russell has in mind.

Coming off last year’s Amsterdam, Russell has been nurturing the script for some time. It began as a rewritten script that Russell was working on based on another idea, but progress had to stop when the WGA strike took hold. Although the writing itself hasn’t been able to make much headway, there’s been running speculation that one Will Ferrell will be the one to play Madden.

Ferrell is known for countless roles across film and television. From Elf to The Office, he’s got a slew of credits to his name, some even coming soon, most notably in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. 

Stay with MXDWN for more news on Will Farrell, David O’Russell, and everything to do with Madden games and films.