Air, the latest directorial effort from Ben Affleck, opened wide on Wednesday to a debut of $3.2 million in its first day on release. Starring Matt Damon as a Nike shoe salesman who pursues the iconic Michael Jordan, as a rookie, for a deal to wear Nike shoes, the Amazon-backed movie is on a rare theatrical release before heading exclusively to streaming.
Air is projected to earn around $10.6 million across its opening weekend, with an approximate total between $16 million and $18 million over its first five days of theatrical play. In an unusual move, Amazon has granted the movie a theatrical run – a rarity for a streaming service. It's currently uncertain how long the film will play theatrically before it's ported directly to Prime Video for the home streaming market, nor is it evident what sort of box office returns it would need to earn for Amazon to deem the experiment a success. The film was produced from a budget of $90 million.
The movie, in which Affleck directs his lifelong friend, Damon, for the first time, has received glowing critical reviews and outstanding word of mouth, with a 97% positive Rotten Tomatoes score, as well as an A CinemaScore. The movie looks set to earn visits from adult moviegoers, who have been fussy about what films they deem worthy of visiting cinemas for in a post-pandemic world.
Who Else Appears in 'Air'?
The movie also co-stars Affleck, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Matthew Maher, Marlon Wayans, Jay Mohr, Julius Tennon, with Chris Tucker and Viola Davis, who was hand-picked by Jordan himself to play his mother Deloris in the film, as Affleck has described when he went to meet with the NBA icon prior to starting production.
He said, “It has to be Viola Davis.” I was like, “Okay.” That’s like saying, “Can I get a basketball team together?” “Sure.” “It has to be Michael Jordan.” But then, I realized that’s very typical of who this guy is. It has to be the best. And so, I knew that it was incumbent on us to create a role that was worthy of Viola, and we tried to do that. Her saying yes was a lifelong career ambition of mine. I thought, “I really will have made it as a director, if I have Viola Davis in my movie.” When she said yes, I tried to believe it was me, but I think a lot of it had to do with me being like, “Michael Jordan wants you to play his mom.”
Air is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Check out the trailer and synopsis for the movie down below.
From award-winning director Ben Affleck, AIR reveals the unbelievable game-changing partnership between a then-rookie Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division which revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time.