Starting out as a pair of actors who also happened to be crack screenwriters, Academy Award winners Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are a pair of friends who are practically inseparable. While they’ve only reunited as a writing and acting duo with Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, neither had directed the other on-screen. However, that’s about to change, thanks to Affleck and Damon reuniting for the 2023 new movie release Air, which sees the Gone Baby Gone director overseeing his friend for the first time.
Courtesy of Amazon Studios, we now have our first look at the story of Nike and its iconic partnership with Michael Jordan, which launched the Air Jordan line of sneakers. While Air is an ensemble drama with an impressive roster of stars, one of the huge draws is seeing the Good Will Hunting boys take the screen together again. And that is absolutely worth the time it takes to get to the wryly funny finish.
Directed by: Ben Affleck
Written by: Alex Convery
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Matthew Maher, Marlon Wayans, Jay Mohr, Julius Tennon, with Chris Tucker and Viola Davis
Rating: R for "Language Throughout."
Release Date: 4/5/23
It’s not all about one-liners being traded by Oscar winners and notable entertainers in Air. Mixed in with the ‘80s fashions and hair choices is a story of a shoe manufacturer that was looking for a killer product. Through executive Sonny Vacarro’s efforts to brand a new shoe around the impressive rookie that was Michael Jordan, inspiration and commerce would take the company to the heights it’s at today.
Air was announced last spring, with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck reported to be respectively playing Vaccaro and Phil Knight, the pair that helped make Air Jordans happen at Nike. Affleck’s film will also star Academy Award winner Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, the mother of his airness Michael, and also fills out the cast with the likes of Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, and Chris Tucker.
Ben Affleck’s move to Amazon Studios isn’t all that surprising, as he was the star of 2021’s George Clooney-directed drama The Tender Bar. Now walking the lot as a director and co-star to Matt Damon, it feels like that particular circle of collaborators is drawing ever closer at a new home. Though, unlike previous projects, Air is going a little more traditional with its release strategy.
Air will debut, only in theaters, on April 5. Though, of course, the eventual streaming home for the Ben Affleck-helmed picture will be Amazon’s home court. So those of you with a Prime Video subscription will have to wait a little longer, knowing that when the time comes you’ll be set for air time.
