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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reuniting for a new drama movie.
The film, which is being developed by Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures, is set to center on Sonny Vaccaro, the real-life sneaker salesman who signed Michael Jordan to his first endorsement deal with Nike back in the 1980s.
While the collaboration seemed impossible at the time, Jordan's relationship with Nike went on to become one of the most significant athlete-sports-brand pair ups in history, and paved the way for Nike to become the global, multibillion-dollar company we all know today.
According to Deadline, Jordan, the character, won't feature in the movie. Instead, he will be "a giant, mythic figure" who seems constantly out of Vaccaro's reach, as he makes contact with the basketball player's former coaches, advisors, friends, and parents – particularly his headstrong, charismatic mother.
Alex Convery wrote the original script, titled Air Jordan before it ended up on The Black List 2021, an annual survey of the "most-liked" movie scripts not yet produced. Mandalay brought it to Skydance Sports president Jon Weinbach, who then secured Vaccarro’s life rights. Affleck and Damon are doing a new pass on the script and will produce.
Damon will play Vaccaro, while Affleck will portray Nike co-founder Phil Knight. The latter is lined up to helm the picture, too, which marks his first time directing his pal despite their past collaborations. The pair famously co-wrote and starred together in Gus Van Sant's 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which earned them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. More recently, they shared the screen with Adam Driver and Jodie Comer in Ridley Scott's medieval drama The Last Duel.
Affleck has previously directed films such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Live by Night. He won his second Oscar in 2013 when Argo, which he starred in, produced and directed, was named the Best Motion Picture of the Year.
