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Ben Affleck, Matt Damon to Star in Movie About Nike Trying to Sign Michael Jordan
April 20, 2022
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up on a movie that will tell the story of former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and Nike co-founder Phil Knight attempting to sign Michael Jordan to an endorsement deal in the 1980s, according to Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter.
Affleck will serve as the project's director along with being a writer, producer and one of the co-stars, portraying Knight. Damon will also write and produce on the project and portray Vaccaro.
Per that report, "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 not be portrayed in the film, instead serving as a "mythic figure hovering above the movie and never seen."
The eventual deal between NIke and Jordan launched the company into the global powerhouse that it is today after the Chicago Bulls superstar became the best player in the NBA in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Jordan Brand line of sneakers remains an iconic style, with sneakerheads clamoring to add its various iterations to their collections.
