I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Tucker last week about his upcoming film, Air that is set to be released on April 5th. I also got a chance to check out the film too and it was really, really good! I learned so much about the Nike company as a whole! I never knew how much work it took to get NBA baller Michael Jordan to sign a deal with the brand and how his family was very instrumental in his life.
In 2022 alone, Jordan got an estimated 265.1 million payout for the sales of his shoes, per Front Office Sports. The Jordan Brand reportedly made $5.1 billion for the fiscal year 2022. As part of his deal with Nike. Mike is entitled to get 5% of the earnings from the shoe sales wow!
Chris portrays Howard White in film who is the Vice President of Jordan Brand for Nike Inc. ‘Air’: The True Story Behind the new Ben Affleck-Matt Damon Movie. Ben Affleck’s next directorial is a true story based on Nike salesman Sonny Vaccaro’s successful signing of then-rising superstar Michael Jordan. See my interview inside where Chris discusses how influential his mom was in his life and with his career choices and how he felt about buying his first Air Jordan sneakers!
From award-winning director Ben Affleck (Argo, The Town), 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 inspirational 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.
AIR stars Matt Damon as Nike’s basketball expert, Sonny Vaccaro; Ben Affleck as Nike founder and CEO, Phil Knight; Jason Bateman (Ozark) as Rob Strasser, Nike’s VP of Marketing; Chris Tucker (Rush Hour franchise) as Howard White, an ex-player and Sonny’s colleague and advisor; Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) as David Falk, Jordan’s agent; Marlon Wayans (Respect) as George Raveling, one of Jordan’s coaches at the 1984 Olympics; and Viola Davis as Michael’s mother, Deloris Jordan.
The main cast also includes Matthew Maher (Captain Marvel) as Peter Moore, Nike’s creative director; and Julius Tennon (The Woman King) as Michael’s father, James Jordan.
Affleck directed AIR from a screenplay by Alex Convery. Affleck and Damon are also producing alongside David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman. Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Kevin Halloran, Michael Joe, Drew Vinton, John Graham, Peter E. Strauss and Jordan Moldo serve as executive producers.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes three-time Oscar-winning director of photography Robert Richardson (Hugo, The Aviator, JFK), production designer François Audouy (Ford v Ferrari, Logan), Oscar-winning editor William Goldenberg (Argo, The Imitation Game, Zero Dark Thirty), costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones (Judas and the Black Messiah) and music supervisor Andrea von Foerster (Yellowstone).
Amazon Studios and Skydance Sports present an Artists Equity and Mandalay Pictures production, AIR.
