Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’ Trailer: A Sneaker Origin Story

From Ben Affleck comes the story of the legendary partnership between Nike and Michael Jordan. For those who don’t know, Nike actually took a pretty big chance on Jordan when it created the Air Jordan sneaker. While he was a big player, having performed very well during his college career, there was no indication that he’d ever become the basketball royalty he is today at that time. Jordan wore the very first pair of Air Jordans late in the 1984 season while playing for the Chicago Bulls, which was the very first year he spent playing in the NBA.

The story of the Air Jordans’ origins is told in Affleck’s Air, featuring Matt Damon, Affleck, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, and Viola Davis. It tells the tale of a struggling company, that doesn’t really have anything to set them apart from other sneaker companies. Eventually, Sonny Vaccaro (Damon) decides that what they need to do is endorse a rookie. He wants to bet the whole company on a kid who hasn’t had time to develop a proven track record. He takes this to Phil Knight (Affleck), one of Nike’s cofounders, who eventually approves the plan.

The official synopsis from Amazon is:

From award-winning director Ben Affleck, AIR reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a 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.

Air is debuting exclusively in theaters everywhere on April 5, 2023.

You can watch the official trailer below.