20 Upcoming Movies That Have Made ONE Big Mistake
2. Hiring David O. Russell - Madden
Though there's absolutely an audience for a biopic of legendary American football coach and commentator John Madden - especially one starring Nicolas Cage and Christian Bale - much enthusiasm evaporated the moment that David O. Russell was announced to be directing.
Russell is certainly a talented filmmaker, but it's also frankly baffling that he continues to get work on major movies considering his enduring reputation for being abusive and combative towards cast and crew, even actors as high-profile as George Clooney, Lily Tomlin, and Amy Adams.
And if you thought the heat Russell has received for his behaviour might encourage him to calm down, reports emerged during shooting of Madden that several cast and crew members walked off the set after the director used the "n-word" and even tried to insert it into the script.
Russell has such an air of toxicity around him nowadays that it's little surprise Amazon decided to skirt a theatrical release and awards campaign, instead sending it straight to their Prime Video platform on November 26, where it'll likely come and go in a blink.