Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are teaming up once again to tell the story of maverick Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and the creation of the iconic Air Jordan shoe brand.
It’s the first time Affleck has directed Damon, a longtime collaborator and friend on features like “Good Will Hunting” and “The Last Duel,” the former of which earned the duo a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Starring as Vaccaro, Damon leads the film directed by Affleck (who also stars), featuring a script by Alex Convery. The new movie tells the true story of the partnership between Michael Jordan, a then-rookie with grand ambitions, and Nike’s fledging basketball division. Charting the creation of the Air Jordan brand, whose legacy still impacts popular culture today, “Air” will portray the greatest basketball player of all time in his earliest days and the drive that made him such a force of nature on and off the court.
“I am willing to bet my career on one guy,” Vaccaro says in the first trailer, which dropped Thursday. You can watch that above.
Along with Damon, “Air” features an all-star cast including Affleck as Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, Michael’s mother. A fierce advocate for her son, Deloris was instrumental in negotiating this unprecedented deal and was committed to ensuring Jordan’s legacy.
Additional cast includes Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler and Julius Tennon as James Jordan – among others.
In addition to starring in and directing the project, Affleck is also attached as producer. Damon also produced with Peter Guber, Jason Michael Berman, David Ellison, Jeff Robinov and Madison Ainley.
“Air,” from Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports, Mandalay Pictures, and Affleck and Damon’s Artists Equity, features what is being described as a “first of its kind arrangement” with Amazon Studios. Amazon is distributing the film globally with Warner Bros. Pictures handling international as part of its distribution pact with Amazon’s MGM.
The film will be exclusively in theaters globally April 5, 2023 in advance of its premiere in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Prime Video.
Watch the first trailer for “Air” above.
