Ben Affleck Is Nike Co-Founder Phil Knight in 'AIR'
Ben Affleck is many things: Batman, sad man, sad Grammys man, Dunkin fan. In the trailer for Air, he adds Phil Knight to that list.
Knight is the billionaire co-founder of Nike and he figures deeply into the plot of Air. Directed by and starring Affleck, his pal Matt Damon, Marlon Wayans, Viola Davis, and Jason Bateman, the biopic centers around Nike's quest to sign Michael Jordan back in the early '80s.
A few Jordan sketches (and Affleck's bare feet [?]) appear in the trailer, which gives an overview to the quest that Damon undertakes to recruit Jordan to Nike.
We see everything from the OG Cortez to a rough sketch of the inimitable Jumpman logo in the process.
It's not actually clear whether there's any involvement from Nike itself in the movie, though one has to assume that the Swoosh would've had to clear all of the copyrighted imagery seen in the film. AIR's April release would actually be a great time to retro a coveted Jordan 1, actually (are Chicagos coming back?!?).
It seems like the film is at least fairly personal for the man some know as Mr. J.Lo. We've tracked Affleck's miserable expression for nearly a full year and his sneaker flexes for nearly as long.
Turns out, Affleck is a bit of a sneakerhead and has been unexpectedly spotted wearing a plethora of trendy sneakers, from rare Nike dunks to, of all things, Travis Scott's shoes for both Dior and Jordan Brand.
If there are any safe bets, one can probably assume that AIR will at least provide a reprieve from the endless parade of Panda sneakers, if nothing else. That'd be quite a cameo, though.
