Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reteaming for a Nike drama that Affleck will direct for Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures, Deadline can confirm.

The as-yet-untitled sports marketing film will tell the incredible story of how Sonny Vaccaro (Damon), a maverick sneaker salesman, led a fledgling running shoe company called Nike in its pursuit of the most transformative athlete in the history of sports: Michael Jordan. Affleck will portray Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the story surrounding Nike’s longshot effort to sign Jordan to its shoe company in the mid-’80s, an endorsement that seemed impossible at the time but which would become the most significant relationship between an athletic brand and an athlete and launched the global, multibillion-dollar contemporary sneaker industry.

Sonny’s relentless quest to sign Jordan to what was then the third-place shoe company takes him to Jordan’s parents, and in particular his powerful, dynamic mother, as well as to former coaches, advisors, friends and those close to Michael. Jordan himself is a giant mythic figure hovering above the movie and never seen, while Sonny tries to reach him by gaining access to those close to him and around him.

Alex Convery wrote the original script, titled Air Jordan, which was named to the 2021 Black List of the best unproduced screenplays. 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 alongside Peter Guber and Jason Michael Berman of Mandalay Pictures.

While Affleck has never before directed Damon, the pair famously co-wrote and starred together in Gus Van Sant’s 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which won them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. They also recently reteamed for Ridley Scott’s film The Last Duel, starring there alongside Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and more.

Affleck previously directed films including Gone Baby Gone, The Town, Best Picture Oscar winner Argo and Live by Night. He recently starred opposite Ana de Armas in the erotic thriller Deep Water and will next be seen in The Flash and Robert Rodriguez’s thriller Hypnotic. Other upcoming films featuring Damon include Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

Regularly featuring on the Black List, Convery has been behind such screenplays as Bag Mag, Excelsior! and Wild Things.

Affleck and Damon are represented by WME and Ziffren Brittenham; Convery is repped by UTA and Grandview.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s upcoming movie about the sports marketing executive who relentlessly pursued basketball legend Michael Jordan in the mid-’80s has added a troupe of all-star actors to its line-up.

Emmy-winner Jason Bateman, Academy Award-winner Viola Davis, Chris Tucker and Marlon Wayans have signed on to star opposite Affleck and Damon in Prime Video’s untitled film, along with Matthew Maher, Chris Messina, Tom Papa and Julius Tennon.

Damon plays maverick sneaker salesman and former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, and Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight in the film, from Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures. The movie tells the story of Nike’s long-shot effort to sign Jordan to the shoe company, an endorsement that seemed impossible at the time, but would become the most significant relationship between an athletic brand and an athlete. The strategic partnership helped launch the global, multibillion-dollar contemporary sneaker industry.

Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Reunite for Film About Nike’s Quest to Sign Michael Jordan

In the film, Bateman will star as Rob Strasser, the longtime Nike executive (and Vaccaro’s boss), who was instrumental in the company’s efforts to sign, and later promote, Jordan as he oversaw the company’s marketing and messaging. Davis will play Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris, who had enormous influence on the basketball legend’s decision to sign the deal. Tucker has signed on to play Howard White, then a junior executive in Nike’s fledgling basketball department who served as the day-to-day connection with its roster of NBA players following his time as a college basketball player for the University of Maryland. Wayans joins the cast as George Raveling, the trailblazing college basketball coach (the first Black coach in both the ACC and the PAC 10), who met and befriended Jordan while serving as an assistant coach on the 1984 gold medal-winning U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball team. Raveling was a dear friend of Vaccaro’s, and with Sonny’s prodding, first introduced the idea of signing with Nike to Jordan.

Maher will play Peter Moore, the legendary designer for Nike (and later Adidas) who was behind designs for the first Air Jordan sneakers, in addition to the iconic “Wings” and “Jumpman” logos for the Air Jordan brand. Messina is David Falk, Jordan’s original agent, who is oft credited with coming up with the name “Air Jordan,” Papa will play Stu Inman, while Tennon embodies Jordan’s father James.

Production on the project, which Affleck is directing, recently began in Los Angeles. This marks the first time Affleck will direct a feature starring Damon, and the two stars also collaborated on the script, which was penned by Alex Convery and named to the 2021 Black List. The new project is Affleck and Damon’s third screenplay together, following 2021’s “The Last Duel” and the Oscar-winning “Good Will Hunting.”

Affleck and Damon are also producing the film alongside Peter Guber, Jason Michael Berman, Jeff Robinov, Madison Ainley, and David Ellison. Executive producers include Jon Weinbach, Jesse Sisgold, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, John Graham, Drew Vinton, Jordan Moldo and Peter E. Strauss.

Some great news for exhibition Monday morning: Amazon Studios is getting back into the wide theatrical release business with Ben Affleck’s Nike movie Air, starring his fellow Good Will Hunting co-Oscar winner Matt Damon. Air will get a global theatrical release on Wednesday, April 5 this year, heading into the lucrative Easter weekend. This is the first wide theatrical release from Amazon since ts Sundance acquisition, Mindy Kaling’s Late Night, which had a wide summer release in 2019.

I hear Air will have a longer theatrical window than Amazon Studios’ recent limited theatrical releases, before hitting Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories. It truly is a first-of-its-kind arrangement for the studio as Amazon Studios will distribute the film globally, with Warner Bros. Pictures handling international as part of its distribution pact with Amazon’s MGM. Amazon Studios only had U.S. on Late Night, not global rights.

Air reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division, which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. 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.

Damon plays maverick Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight with Jason Bateman as Rob Strasser, Chris Messina as David Falk, Matthew Maher as Peter Moore, Marlon Wayans as George Raveling, Chris Tucker as Howard White, Viola Davis as Deloris Jordan, Gustaf Skarsgård as Horst Dassler, and Julius Tennon as James Jordan – among others. While Damon and Affleck starred in such movies together such as Good Will Hunting and Dogma, Air reps the first time that Affleck has directed his longtime friend.

“Ben, Matt, and this all-star cast have delivered a fantastic film that will move, inspire, and entertain audiences around the globe,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon and MGM Studios. “With Ben’s incredible direction, the film delivers a nostalgic look back at a culture-defining moment that absolutely lends itself to a global theatrical event.”

Said Affleck: “Matt and I are very excited for audiences to see Air and proud that it’s the first release from Artists Equity. The movie was an extraordinary experience where we had the honor of working with some of the best cast and crew in the business, all of whom brought passion, persistence, and creativity to a collective effort at recreating a remarkable and aspirational story. I appreciate and value Jen Salke’s faith in our ability to execute on and deliver a movie we are proud of, as well as her and Sue Kroll’s incredible ongoing support of the film. Amazon Studios, Skydance, and Mandalay were all critical to getting this done, and the film couldn’t have been made without them. We value the steps it took on each of their parts to make it happen and want to thank them. This was the best creative and personal experience of our lives and we look forward to many more like it.”

Alex Convery wrote the screenplay; David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Affleck, Damon, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman produce. EPs are Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Drew Vinton, John Graham, Peter E. Strauss, and Jordan Moldo.

Production companies in addition to Amazon Studios include Skydance Sports, Mandalay Pictures, and Affleck and Damon’s Artists Equity.

Air debuts over an Easter frame that includes Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros Movie and Sony’s The Pope’s Exorcist.

Starting in the fall of 2019, Amazon began turning to a short limited theatrical window for its titles before segueing them onto their OTT service, i.e. the Adam Driver movie The Report and the Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones movie The Aeronauts. They’ve maintained that model for quite some time, even for the big pricey movies they acquired during the pandemic, i.e. Coming 2 America, Cinderella, and The Tomorrow War.