Michael Jordan‘s impact on fashion might be obvious now, with everyone from Mark Wahlberg to Rihanna rocking a pair of Jordans, but when Nike first made the deal with the all-star athlete to create the shoes, it was a major gamble for everyone involved. The story of how that happened is now coming to life in a new movie, directed by Ben Affleck, titled “Air.” Affleck also stars as Nike cofounder Phil Knight, with his best friend Matt Damon playing marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro and newly minted EGOT winner Viola Davis portraying Michael’s mother, Deloris Jordan. The trailer for the film dropped Feb. 9, and it shows a Nike company that’s in crisis reaching out to make a landmark deal with Michael and Deloris.
“A shoe is just a shoe,” Damon as Vaccaro warns. “Until my son steps into it,” Davis declares as Deloris.
“Air” comes from Amazon Studios and is getting a worldwide release this spring. According to Amazon, “‘Air’ reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand.” They describe Knight, Vaccaro, and the rest of Nike as “an unconventional team with everything on the line” and Deloris as having “the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent.” The movie also marks the first time Affleck, who won an Oscar for helming “Argo” in 2014, directs his best friend Damon.
Some of the story of Michael’s relationship with Nike was told in his hit docuseries “The Last Dance,” and a game-worn pair of his Jordans sold for $560,000 in 2020. Those shoes are depicted in the first trailer.
Ahead, watch the trailer, and read everything we know about the movie so far.
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