Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike Drama Adds Viola Davis, Jason Bateman and More!!

Ben Affleck‘s untitled Nike drama about Sonny Vaccaro has beefed up its lineup. Deadline reports that the film has added eight new cast members to the upcoming film, including Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Chris Messina (Birds of Prey), Jason Bateman (Ozark), Chris Tucker (Rush Hour), Marlon Wayans (Respect), Tom Papa (Behind the Candelabra), Matthew Maher (Our Flag Means Death), and Julius Tennon (The Simone Biles Story:Courage to Soar).

Davis and Tennon portray Deloris and James Jordan, the parents of Michael Jordan who are cited as being a major influence on Jordan’s Nike deal. Messina plays David Falk, Jordan’s original agent who also represented several additional prominent NBA players. Bateman takes on longtime Nike executive and Vaccaro’s boss Rob Strasser, who was also a key part in landing the Jordan deal. Tucker is cast as Howard White, a former college basketball player and junior executive at Nike. Wayans plays George Raveling, a “college basketball trailblazer” and the first Black coach in two major conferences. Papa plays former Portland Trail Blazers executive Stu Inman. Finally, Maher plays Nike designer Peter Moore, who first created the Air Jordan sneakers.The biopic will focus on sneaker salesman Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and his quest to sign Michael Jordan, “the most transformative athlete in the history sports.” Nike co-founder Phil Knight (Affleck) joins Vaccaro in his pursuit as it takes him to Jordan’s parents — especially his “powerful, dynamic mother” — friends, former coaches, and other important figures in Jordan’s life.

The biopic comes from Amazon Studios, Mandalay Pictures, and Skydance Sports. Affleck and Damon wrote the screenplay from the original script by Alex Convery. The duo is also producing with Affleck in the director’s chair. Jason Michael Berman, Jeff Robinov, Peter Gruber, Madison Ainley, and David Ellison serve as producers. Executive producers include Drew Vinton, Jordan Moldo, Dana Goldberg, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Peter E. Strauss, and John Graham.

The biopic marks the third screenwriting collaboration between Affleck and Damon, following in the footsteps of Good Will Hunting and The Last Duel. This will be Affleck‘s latest foray into directing since his 2016 project Live by Night. Additionally, the duo has starred in a few other films together, including The Last Duel, School Ties, Chasing Amy, and Dogma.

Production is currently underway. No release date has been set, but the film is expected to debut on Prime Video.

via Collider