LOS ANGELES: Actor-director Ben Affleck is all set to come up with his next release ‘AIR’.
The highly anticipated feature focuses on the game-changing partnership between Michael Jordan and Nike’s basketball division. Although their unexpected partnership brought upon apprehension and hesitancy, Nike revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the introduction of the Air Jordan brand, Variety reported.
Directed by Affleck and poduced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports, Mandalay Pictures, ‘AIR’ is the first project from Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity and will premiere this year in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Prime Video.
From director Ben Affleck comes AIR. Exclusively in theaters April 5, 2023. #AIRMovie pic.twitter.com/s5Fs994gmY
— MGM Studios (@mgmstudios) February 9, 2023
Sharing details on how the film came about, Affleck said, “Matt and I are very excited for audiences to see AIR and proud that it’s the first release from Artists Equity.
The movie was an extraordinary experience where we had the honour of working with some of the best cast and crew in the business, all of whom brought passion, persistence, and creativity to a collective effort at recreating a remarkable and aspirational story.
I appreciate and value Jen Salke’s faith in our ability to execute on and deliver a movie we are proud of, as well as her and Sue Kroll’s incredible ongoing support of the film. Amazon Studios, Skydance, and Mandalay were all critical to getting this done, and the film couldn’t have been made without them.
We value the steps it took on each of their parts to make it happen and want to thank them. This was the best creative and personal experience of our lives and we look forward to many more like it.”
Matt Damon plays maverick Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight with Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, Gustaf Skarsgard as Horst Dassler, and Julius Tennon as James Jordan — among others.
This marks the first time Affleck is directing a feature film starring Damon. With a script penned by Alex Convery, AIR is produced by David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman. Executive producers include Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Drew Vinton, John Graham, Peter E. Strauss, and Jordan Moldo. (ANI)