20 Upcoming Movies That Might Be Surprisingly Good

Amazon recently dropped the first trailer for Madden, David O. Russell's biopic of legendary late sports commentator John Madden, and to call the initial online response "mixed" is quite the understatement.

Many took umbrage with not only controversy-magnet Russell still being hired to direct major films, but also Nicolas Cage's questionable casting as Madden, and especially the decision to stick him in a fat suit to portray the man.

And of course, there's the fact that Amazon has also quietly re-branded the film as a Prime Video Original, indicating it will forego a theatrical release entirely - an odd choice considering the tendency for Russell's work to court awards buzz. 

It's easy to see this as an admission, then, that Madden simply isn't that caliber of movie.

But the generally high quality of Russell's filmography does suggest the odds are still in his favour, and even his recent dud Amsterdam was still an interesting mess of a movie.

Plus, Madden will benefit from the undeniably alluring pairing of Cage with Christian Bale, who appears to have totally nailed the voice and mannerisms of coach Al Davis.

Nobody's saying that Madden will be up there with Russell's best films like Three Kings, The Fighter, and Silver Linings Playbook, but it will hopefully defy the "trainwreck" labels it's already gotten stuck with.