Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Team for The Nike Sonny Vaccaro Man’s True Life Story – The Hollywood Reporter
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite once again, this time for the real-life story of former Nike executive Sonny Vaccarro in a feature film project that will be made available from Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports, who are currently in the pipeline. their settlement process.
Affleck will direct, write, co-produce and produce the untitled sports marketing drama while Damon will star, write and produce. Mandalay Pictures, the banner run by Peter Guber and Jason Michael Berman, will also produce.
Damon will play Vaccarro while Affleck plays Nike co-founder Phil Knight in a story surrounding Nike’s long-running attempt to sign basketball superstar Michael Jordan to their shoe company in the mid-eighties. twenties, an endorsement that seemed impossible at the time but thanks to the maverick sneakers salesman, will become the most important relationship between a sports brand and an athlete. The deal kicked off the global multi-billion dollar contemporary sneaker industry and helped the sport do the same.
The story will focus on Vaccarro’s relentless journey to bring Jordan into third place as a shoe company, a journey that brings him closer to Jordan’s parents, and especially his energetic, energetic mother. himself, as well as former coaches, mentors, and friends. . Jordan will be a legendary figure hovering over the film and never seen, even as Vaccarro tries to reach him by reaching out to those close to and around him.
Key in the proceedings is ESPN 2015 30 for 30 documentary titled The only man focus on Vaccaro and his story. Skydance Sports president Jon Weinbach, who served alongside president Mandalay Guber as one of the producers of the Emmy-winning series Jordan Last dancewas an integral part of Vaccaro’s right to life.
Weinbach worked with the basketball veteran when he co-directed The only man with currently the senior vp Dan Marks of Skydance Sports. Mandalay first picked up an original script titled Air Jordan and penned by Alex Convery, then brought the project to Weinbach at Skydance Sports.
Affleck and Damon are currently rewriting the script for the project, which will be the first major feature from David Ellison’s newly minted Skydance Sports division. Skydance already has connections to the world of sports through its investor, RedBird Capital.
The project will mark Affleck’s first time directing a film starring his longtime best friend, Damon. Two people who have won Oscars are famous for writing scripts for Goodwill to hunt, which featured Damon in the lead role and Affleck in a supporting role and was directed by Gus van Sant. The couple also reunited last year for Last match, was directed by Ridley Scott, with Damon again in the lead role and Affleck in a supporting role.
Convery is a regular blacklist, with his script Bag Man 2018 shortlist and his Stan Lee biography Great! included in the 2020 list. He is represented by UTA and Grandview.
Affleck and Damon are represented by WME.
