We’re getting an origin movie about a video game in the form of the upcoming Tetris, which is weird enough. But it looks like Amazon Studios took that as a challenge to find an even stranger subject for a biopic—a shoe. But not just any shoe: the Nike Air Jordan, perhaps the most famous footwear this side of Dr Marten’s beloved boot. And so, the shoe-centric drama Air hits cinemas on April 5.
This one has an interesting pedigree—the script by Alex Convery made the coveted Black List in 2021, and was quickly snapped up for production. Ben Affleck signed on to direct, and his old Good Will Hunting mate Matt Damon stars as Nike salesman Sonny Vacaro, who hits upon the idea of signing rookie basketball player Michael Jordan to a licensing deal. Affleck plays Nike CEO Phil Knight, with Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Chris tucker, and Viola Davis rounding out the impressive ensemble.
Note we said Jordan was a rookie. The film takes place in the mid-80s, when the basketball legend was merely a promising up-and-comer, while Nike as a brand was trailing behind industry competitors. The Nike Air Jordan deal was a wild swing, a last ditch gamble for the shoe company to claw its way to the top of the pile. Does it work? Well, history speaks for itself.
This marks yet another in a long line of Ben ‘n’ Matt collaborations, the pair having first appeared in the same film way back in 1991 as uncredited extras in Field of Dreams according to imdb before moving on to more prominent roles in the likes of Good Will Hunting (which they, of course, wrote together) and Dogma. Affleck has since proved himself a more than capable director on Gone Baby Gone and Argo, so this looks like a fitting on-screen reunion for the Boston boys.
