Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reuniting on the big screen for the new sports drama “Air.”
In the film’s first-look trailer, Affleck and Damon team up as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, tasked with elevating the company’s brand, and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, respectively. In the suspenseful clip, Damon’s character deals with the issue of consumers not knowing “what the hell a Nike is.”
Set in the ’80s, the upcoming movie centers on Vaccaro’s risky gamble to partner with then-rookie Michael Jordan for a game-changing collaboration with Nike’s basketball division, which birthed one of the best-selling sneakers of all time — Nike’s iconic Air Jordan.
Recent EGOT winner Viola Davis also joins Affleck and Damon as Jordan’s mother and right hand, Deloris Jordan, who played a vital role in negotiating one of the most famous and lucrative deals in the world on behalf of her son.
“There’s nothing cool about Nike,” Marlon Wayans says as George Raveling, in the nostalgic trailer, nodding to the company’s bleak existence before it developed into a global, multibillion-dollar sneaker brand.
The biographical comedy-drama marks Affleck’s latest directorial effort, the first time that Damon has starred in a film directed by Affleck and the first project from Artists Equity, the production company the Hollywood duo formed last year.
Damon, Affleck’s longtime friend and collaborator, has starred in several films alongside the “Batman” star over the years, including 1997’s “Chasing Amy,” 2021’s “The Last Duel” and their 1997 breakout film “Good Will Hunting,” in which they both scored an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
“Air” also stars Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler and Julius Tennon as James Jordan.
Set to hit theaters on April 5, “Air” will also later debut on Prime Video at a yet-to-be-announced date.