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Get pumped for football and explosions with Madden: The Movie

Madden NFL 16 is just days away from release, and EA is taking a slightly … more creative direction for the game’s marketing this year. When you think of Madden, the first thing to come to your mind is most likely not an “80s action film parody starring Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse,” but that’s exactly what Madden: The Movie is.

“Their season was innocent, but one day … everything changed forever,” the narrator says as Franco’s “Blade Johnson” argues with Javier Bardem over whether he can win a game of Madden to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend.

He isn’t alone in his quest, however: Joining Franco are Rob Gronkowski, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Rex Ryan (who Mintz-Plasse’s “Janet” is convinced is his father), and Colin Kaepernick, who gives an admirable Al Pacino impression and eats a crumpled-up piece of paper.

But it could all come to a heart-wrenching end when Rex Ryan is tragically killed by a stray football. He probably just got the wind knocked out of him, though. He’s a big fellow.

If the five-minute trailer is anything to go by, the “full” movie will also feature a Bollywood dance number, explosions, a dozen motorcycles, Rob Gronkowski firing a football turret like something out of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and a twenty-second shot of Julio Jones repeatedly slapping a man in the face while staring at the camera. There’s also a dinosaur, for some reason. If that doesn’t get you excited for a completely unrelated video game, I don’t know what will.

“Cancel awards season … we have a winner.”

Madden NFL 16 releases August 25 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3. It probably won’t feature Dave Franco or Christopher Mintz-Plasse, but it does include a “risk/reward” passing system and the return of Ultimate Team mode.

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Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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