Trip Hawkins has seen the upcoming John Madden biopic, and the verdict is in.
Two years after Hawkins left Apple Computer to found Electronic Arts in 1982, he met the legendary American football coach and commentator John Madden. The meeting sparked a decades-long professional and personal collaboration through which Madden lent his name to Electronic Arts’ wildly popular Madden NFL video game series — becoming a father figure to Hawkins in the process.
Hawkins is a major character in Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming film “Madden,” with John Mulaney portraying Hawkins across from stars like Christian Bale, Kathryn Hahn, and Nicolas Cage, who plays Madden in the movie. Hawkins initially expressed some misgivings over the casting of a comedian in his role, telling GamesBeat last year that he anticipated his character would provide “comic relief.” He changed his mind after director David O. Russell invited Hawkins and his family to a private advance screening of the film, which Hawkins described as a “laugh riot” throughout.
“I definitely feel like John’s got my swagger. That intellectual edge and sharpness — the feeling that, yeah, we can we can do anything we want, and we’re going to make it happen,” Hawkins said in an interview with GamesBeat. “He’s conveying, I would say, a lot of the attributes of a classic Silicon Valley entrepreneur.”
Hawkins hasn’t met Mulaney yet, although he said he was looking forward to crossing paths with him at the Madden premiere on November 18. Aside from an initial meeting with Russell, Hawkins was not directly involved in the production — a decision that he said he understood, although he would have liked to contribute more.
“I would have been interested in being consulted and finding out what they were doing, because why wouldn’t I?” Hawkins said. “But I was so delighted that it was just going on, and I think the reality is that David O. Russell had a story already in his head, and it’s a very good story.”
To learn more about Hawkins’ take on the upcoming Madden biopic — and the parts of Electronic Arts’ story that were left on the cutting room floor — GamesBeat spoke with the EA founder for an annotated Q&A. Here are some of the key takeaways.
The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Virginia Madden was most accurate part of the movie
Trip Hawkins: “I know these people, the characters that are on the screen, and there’s authenticity about who those people are: What was their life force like? What were the important aspects of the relationships they had with each other? Particularly with Virginia Madden, who’s kind of the through line that’s always propelling the story and moving it onto the next step. I’m obviously good friends with the Madden family, and the film company was generous enough to set up a private screening up in Pleasanton, where they live.”
GamesBeat: Hawkins said he spoke with John Madden’s son Mike after viewing the film, and that both were impressed by Kathryn Hahn’s performance as Virginia Madden, John Madden’s wife. Hawkins said he thought Hahn’s portrayal of Madden was one of the most realistic performances in the film, which makes sense, given the real Virginia Madden has spent much of her life preserving John Madden’s legacy through charities and the John Madden Foundation.
Rich Hilliman was the biggest contributor to Madden NFL who wasn’t in the movie
Hawkins: “The one guy that spent the most time on Madden with me — a guy, by the way, that didn’t finish high school, didn’t go to college, and I saw the potential in him because I always knew that, in the video game industry, it’s much more about aptitude than it is about prior experience — the guy I’m talking about is Rich Hilleman. He’s just always been a great collaborator, someone who’s really bright, really creative, really hardworking, knows how to connect the dots and get things done. So, just a fantastic partner, and he was helpful on the first couple of versions.”
GamesBeat: To many younger audience members, the Madden NFL video game series is their primary association with John Madden. Although Hawkins and Electronic Arts are a significant element of the Madden film, Mulaney’s portrayal of Hawkins was viewers’ main window into the game development process, with Hawkins noting that the film was ultimately an exploration of Madden’s life and personal journey, not the story of EA. Still, the inclusion of Madden NFL in the film’s narrative and marketing is notable amid the broader rise of gaming stories and IP in Hollywood film and television. In addition to the upcoming Madden biopic, two of the top-grossing films of the past month — ”Street Fighter” and “Resident Evil” were inspired by gaming properties.
The Madden brand will withstand football’s long-term health risks
Hawkins: “I’m pretty sure that we’ll reach a point where the NFL will stop playing with humans, because the concussion issues are ridiculous. It’s a great game — it’s a beautiful game — but it’s not good for the human brain, unfortunately. So, if it gets to the point where we’ve got AI robots or avatars or whatever it is that are actually playing, the Madden brand is going to still be there.”
GamesBeat: Although Hawkins hasn’t been involved in EA’s day-to-day business since the 1990s, his prediction about the future of the Madden brand reflects the value proposition for EA’s sports properties that propelled the company into a $55 billion leveraged buyout deal led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund earlier this year. Over the past year, EA has actively evolved the messaging around its sports game properties to highlight their connections with traditional sports fandom.