Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Nike Film 'AIR' to hit theaters in April

by Darian Scalamoni

    Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are one of the most formidable creative bromances across Hollywood ever since they won the Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1997 for Good Will Hunting. Now, the duo has started a new production company, Artists Equity and will see their first release AIR hit theaters on April 5th before arriving on Amazon Prime Video.

    The Hollywood Reporter dropped the news of the global theatrical release as the sports marketing drama will hit theaters much sooner than many anticipated. There is no current release date for when the film will hit Amazon. With Affleck and Damon being such massive advocates for the theater experience, this is a big win for their Artists Equity brand and shows that streamers are creating more deals for theatrical releases before releasing movies on their respective platforms. Netflix did something similar back in December when they released Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery but received some flak from the entertainment industry because they removed it after a short period despite doing great numbers in a limited box-office run. 

    Ben Affleck directs AIR which he also co-wrote with Matt Damon and Alex Convery that follows the true story about the history of Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, who is played by Damon, and the pursuit to sign Michael Jordan to an exclusive shoe deal. Affleck will play Phil Knight in the movie that also stars Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker. This will be the first movie directed by Affleck since the 2016 gangster flick, Live by Night. Affleck also won an Oscar for Best Picture in 2013 for his film, Argo. Damon will appear in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in July, while Affleck is rumored to be appearing in both The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, both in 2023 for DC Studios. New DC head James Gunn also revealed on Twitter that he's met with Affleck in regard to directing a film for the comic book movie studio.

    Despite teaming together in writing and producing, AIR will be the first time that Affleck directs Damon on screen. However, the pair reunited in 2021 for The Last Duel where they starred together alongside Adam Driver and Jodie Comer for Ridley Scott's historical drama. AIR is set to be the first major factor at the new Skydance Sports division.