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Despite glowing reviews from critics and
audiences since its world premiere at the South by Southwest
Film Festival in March, the retired Chicago Bull’s verdict on
the movie still is not in. The movie premieres on Wednesday in
theaters and will later stream on Amazon.com Inc's Prime Video.
A representative for Jordan did not respond to a request for
comment about the film.
“I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with promoting the movie
any further by assigning Michael’s vote of approval to it,”
Affleck told Reuters. “I will tell you that every step was taken
along the way to make sure that he had every option available to
him because of the respect that we have for him.”
The cast of “Air” includes “Good Will Hunting” actor Matt Damon,
who produced the movie and portrays the real-life former sports
marketing executive, Sonny Vaccaro. Affleck plays Nike
co-founder Phil Knight and “The Woman King” actor Viola Davis
portrays Jordan’s mother, Deloris Jordan.
The movie is the first from Affleck and Damon’s new production
company, Artists Equity, which aims to ensure both cast and crew
benefit from the film’s profits.
There was one key role that Affleck and Damon decided not to
fill, and it was Michael Jordan’s.
“The second you put the camera on an actor and say ‘Hey, it’s
Michael Jordan’ and it’s not Michael Jordan, you’re going to
lose the audience, so we knew. Michael’s just too famous and
means too much to people to try to have someone else play him in
a movie,” Damon said.
Instead of casting an actor to try filling Jordan’s shoes, “Air”
shows small snippets of the athlete’s presence, including
intercut footage of his playing career at the end.
The film explores the origins of the popular Air Jordan
basketball shoe line in the 1980s that captured Jordan’s black
silhouette jumping with a ball in his hand on every shoe,
eventually becoming a staple in both the fashion and sports
industries.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
(Photo: Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis,
Matt Damon, Julius Tennon, Jason Bateman, and Chris Tucker
attend the world premiere of "AIR" at Regency Village Theatre in
Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Lauren
Justice)
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