Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Reuniting for Nike/Michael Jordan Movie

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up once again. The Boston-native actors are reuniting for a new film about Nike and Michael Jordan. The new movie will focus on the sports marketing executive who pursued the basketball legend in the mid-1980s, according to Variety. Affleck will direct, star and co-write while Damon will produce, co-write and star. The film will also be produced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures. 

Affleck will play Nike co-founder Phil Knight, and Damon will star as Sonny Vaccaro, the sports marketing executive who goes after Jordan. Along with the pursuit of the Chicago Bulls star, audiences will also be introduced to Jordan’s parents, coaches, advisors and friends. This will be the first time that Affleck will direct Damon in a film. The original script was written by Alex Convery and appeared on the 2021 Black List  (an annual ranking of Hollywood’s best unproduced scripts). The original title for the film was called Air Jordan. 

Jordan signed with Nike back in 1984 and launched the Air Jordan shoe. It became a major success for Nike and Jordan, leading to Nike spinning off the Jordan line into its own division named the Jordan Brand. According to Forbes in 2020, Nike has pained Jordan an estimated $1.3 billion since signing its first deal with the Basketball Hall of Famer in 1984. 

“I never wore a Nike shoe until I signed with Nike,” Jordan said in a 2005 interview with Cigar Aficionado. “I wore Converse in college, and I was a big Adidas fan. Then Nike came to me about creating my own shoe. They wanted to put my name on my shoe, and [let me] have input into the design of the shoe. I’d never heard of that before. It was a great pitch. It gave me an opportunity to learn more about the shoe industry, and they gave me an opportunity to create. I sat down with the designers and I talked to them about my personality and things that I like and things I feel people may like. We put all those thoughts into a brand, into the Jordan brand and into the shoe.”

According to Screen Rant, Affleck and Damon have written, produced or starred in eight movies together. The most notable film is Good Will Hunting which was released in 1997. Last year, the duo appeared in the Ridley Scott-directed movie The Last Duel which also starred Jodie Comer.