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Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’ and the Super-Weird State of Movies (Part 2)

Gerry Cardinale and Ben Affleck at the Dealbook conference in November.
Ben Affleck and Gerry Cardinale at the Dealbook conference in November. Photo: Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New York Times
Matthew Belloni
April 13, 2023

In case you missed it, read Part 1 here.

There’s a great scene in Ben Affleck’s new movie, Air, where Michael Jordan’s mother, played by Viola Davis, refuses to close his Nike deal unless he receives a percentage of every Jordan-branded sneaker ever sold. “A shoe is just a shoe… until my son steps into it,” she says to Nike’s Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon. In real life, the negotiation didn’t play out that way—Nike actually first offered the profit participation; Deloris Jordan didn’t have to demand it. But hey, Hollywood. And at the L.A. premiere last month, the audience erupted at the line. I’ll admit I clapped, and not just because it essentially serves as the climax of the film.