Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike Film ‘Air’ to Make Surprise Debut at SXSW (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike drama “Air” is heading to Austin, Texas. The movie will screen to the public for the first time at SXSW as the festival’s closing night film on March 18.
Currently on the SXSW website, there’s a TBA under the Closing Night Special Screening at Paramount Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Amazon is releasing “Air,” which centers on real-life Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro and his pursuit of basketball phenom Michael Jordan, in theaters on April 5.
According to the film’s logline, “this moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.” Affleck and Damon are reuniting as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, respectively, while Viola Davis is starring as Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris. “Air” also features Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker and Julius Tennon.
The character of Michael Jordan, whose Air Jordans revolutionized the sneaker industry, doesn’t appear in the film. Affleck also directed the film, marking his first return behind the camera since 2016’s “Live by Night.” He won an Oscar in 2012 for “Argo,” which took home the prize for best picture.
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