Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike drama “Air” is heading to Austin, Texas.
The film will be screened to the public for the first time at SXSW on March 18 as the festival’s closing night film. SXSW websiteThere is a TBA under Closing Night Special Screening at 6:30 PM at the Paramount Theater
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Amazon is releasing “Air” in theaters April 5, which focuses on the pursuit of real-life Nike shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro and basketball phenom Michael Jordan. According to the film’s logline, “This moving tale follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the irreverent vision of a mother who discovers the value of her son’s immense talent, and the game of basketball that now Will become the greatest ever.
Amazon declined to comment about the film’s SXSW premiere.
Affleck and Damon are reuniting as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro and Nike co-founder Phil Knight, respectively, while Viola Davis stars as Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris. ‘Air’ also stars Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker and Julius Tennon. The character of Michael Jordan, whose Air Jordans revolutionized the sneaker industry, does not appear in the film. The screenplay was written by Alex Cowrie.
Affleck also directed the film, marking his first return behind the camera since 2016’s “Live by Night”. He won an Oscar in 2012 for “Argo,” which won the award for best picture. And, of course, Affleck and Damon received an Academy Award in 1998 for co-writing “Good Will Hunting.”
SXSW is taking place from March 10-19. Other notable premieres included a surprise screening of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” Paramount’s “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “Evil Dead Rise” and the Eva Longoria-directed biopic “Flamin’ Hot.”
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