The Oscar-winning duo of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up again for a sports biopic about Nike and Michael Jordan’s famous sneaker deal. The currently untitled film will be based on Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro’s endeavor to sign a young, rising basketball star, Michael Jordan, in the early ‘80s. Affleck and Damon will both write, produce, and star in the film, their third such collaboration after Good Will Hunting and The Last Duel.
Ben Affleck will also serve as the director in addition to portraying Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Matt Damon will play Sonny Vaccaro. The official plot synopsis (via The Hollywood Reporter) reads: "The story will focus on Vaccaro’s relentless quest to sign Jordan to what was then the third-place shoe company, a journey that took him to Jordan’s parents, and in particular, his powerful, dynamic mother, as well as to former coaches, advisors, and friends. Jordan will be a mythic figure hovering above the movie and never seen, even as Vaccaro tries to reach him by gaining access to those close to him and around him."
There is currently no word on who’ll play Michael Jordan, but the synopsis gives the impression he won’t have much to do in the film. It would certainly be unwise to make a film about one of the most famous sports endorsement deals in history and not include the recipient athlete. Hopefully, Jordan will make an appearance in the film. Maybe a surprise cameo?
Sonny Vaccaro’s story was previously the topic of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary Sole Man. His campaign to sign Jordan for Nike led to a highly lucrative partnership that has turned Nike into a multi-billion dollar company and Jordan into the wealthiest athlete ever. Surprisingly, Vaccaro wasn’t featured in Netflix’s docuseries, The Last Dance.
Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports, and Mandalay Pictures are producing the upcoming biopic based on an original screenplay by Alex Convery, which landed on the Black List. He has also written the Stan Lee biopic Excelsior!. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will be rewriting Convery’s script. The film doesn’t have a release window as of now, but more updates are expected to follow soon.
Ben Affleck And Matt Damon Previously Partnered on Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing the 1997 drama film Good Will Hunting. The pair reunited for Ridley Scott’s historical epic The Last Duel, which was released to critical acclaim last year. One of Scott’s best movies in recent times. The Last Duel also turned out to be his biggest box-office bomb, grossing a paltry $30.6 million against a $100 million budget. Scott blamed millennials for the film’s failure.
While The Last Duel may not have set the box office on fire, it belonged to a genre that is almost dead in Hollywood nowadays: historical drama. Ben Affleck recently starred in a film, Deep Water, from another under-represented film genre, the erotic thriller. Affleck will next be reprising his role as Batman alongside Michael Keaton in The Flash.
As for Matt Damon, the Jason Bourne star will be starring in Christopher Nolan’s period thriller, Oppenheimer. He will play General Leslie Groves, who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Damon will also make a special appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder.