According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning duo Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have found their next project together in the form of a brand new biographical drama about the life of Nike’s long-time executive Sony Vaccarro. Affleck has signed on to direct the untitled sports marketing drama, adapted from a screenplay he will co-write with Damon.
Affleck and Damon’s first collaboration was the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which earned them their first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Last year, they once again reunited in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, which they also co-wrote and co-starred in.
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The untitled project will be led by Affleck and Damon, as they portray the respective roles of Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Vaccarro. The story will center around the popular shoe company’s game-changing sneaker deal with then-rising NBA star Michael Jordan, which helped bring the brand to its global status today.
It will chronicle Vaccarro’s relentless quest to sign Jordan which included meeting the basketball icon’s parents, former coaches, advisors, and friends. “Jordan will be a mythic figure hovering above the movie and never seen, even as Vaccarro tries to reach him by gaining access to those close to him and around him.”
The Nike executive story was first featured in the 2015 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary titled Sole Man, which will also be used as a basis for the film. The said documentary was co-directed by Jon Weinbach, who was integral force in acquiring Vaccaro’s life rights.
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The project will be produced by Affleck and Damon along with Mandalay Pictures’ Peter Guber and Jason Michael Berman. Guber and Weinbach previously worked together as producers on the acclaimed Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance. It is a production by Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports.
