Can Nicolas Cage’s John Madden movie be authentic if filmed in Georgia?

First look production photos were dropped Tuesday of Nicolas Cage starring in Madden a new film about John Madden the legendary Oakland Raiders head coach-turned broadcaster who spent much of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area and died here in at age Much of the chatter about these photos centers on whether Cage the famously eccentric but dedicated film actor can carry off a resemblance to Madden who in his own way was a larger-than-life figure in American custom The Daily Mail published photos of the one-time Oscar winner with shaggy reddish brown hair which could have been a wig and appears meant to approximate Madden s own style circa when he coached the Raiders to their first Super Bowl title In the photos Cage also appears to be wearing padding beneath a vintage blue T-shirt tucked into high-waisted pants to emulate Madden s husky build But the Daily Mail photos also revealed that Madden is being filmed in Atlanta Georgia which raises questions about how authentic the movie can be to the spirit of its subject regardless of whether the -year-old Cage can deliver a decent impression of Madden especially a Madden in his s Principal photography for Madden began in the Georgia city in late April according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution It s not known if much or all of Madden will be shot in Georgia Sadly the Bay Area as well as Hollywood continue to lose lucrative film and TV productions to other states or countries including the U K and Canada which offer more generous incentives to filmmakers Georgia s credit on film and TV production costs has been used to subsidize hundreds of productions and transformed Atlanta into a major production hub according to Variety Perhaps there will at least be selected effort to do exterior shots at iconic Bay Area locations such as the Oakland Coliseum Madden certainly spent a lot of time at the Oakland Coliseum while serving as an assistant coach and then as head coach starting in before he retired in He also was a longtime resident of Pleasanton where he lived with his wife Virginia and their two sons FILE TV sports personality and former Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden enjoys the comforts of his custom-made bus while in New York June AP Photo G Paul Burnette File But even before Madden became a famous football coach his Bay Area roots went way back The son of an auto mechanic he grew up in Daly City where he played football and baseball at Jefferson High School He also briefly attended the College of San Mateo before transferring Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he played offensive tackle While drafted by Philadelphia Eagles his career ended with an injury in his first season and he soon exhibited his gift for coaching and eventually made his way back to the Bay Area to work for the Raiders This film about Madden s uncommon life and career journey is a product of Amazon MGM Studio and it co-stars the invariably chameleonic Christian Bale as Al Davis Deadline disclosed The director is the famously complex and controversial David O Russell whom George Clooney once called a miserable expletive Russell also wrote the screenplay which doesn t sound like its following the standard birth-to-death biopic Instead it appears to focus on a crucial period in Madden s life when he had to walk away from coaching at the pinnacle of his career because the intense demands of the job were jeopardizing his wellbeing and his relationship with his family The film focuses on when Madden determined new purpose in lending his name voice and expertise to the Electronic Arts gaming company to create his eponymous series of football video games Deadline stated Though Madden himself had never played video games the lifelong instructor of football strategy helped shaped the competitor moves on screen and provided a voiceover to help players develop a better understanding of the competition He described Grantland in that his Madden NFL games were meant to be a way for people to learn the tournament of football and participate in the tournament at a pretty sophisticated level If Madden focuses on the intersection of professional sports and the marketing a best-selling consumer product it could be following in the footsteps of Air the Ben Affleck-directed sports film about Nike pursuing a business deal with rookie NBA player Michael Jordan to create the flourishing line of Air Jordan shoes However Madden treats the John Madden story it arguably could be better served by doing filming several scenes locally Meanwhile Cage has a lot riding on how well he pulls off his own interpretation of Madden As the Daily Mail reported his epic transformation into the body and mind of Madden offer his next shot at winning his second Oscar